Japanese Naval Ensign

A very well known variant of the sun disc design is the sun disc with 16 red rays, which was also historically used by Japan’s military, particularly the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was first adopted as the naval ensign on October 7, 1889 and was used until the end of World War II. It was re-adopted on June 30, 1954 and is now used again as Japan’s naval ensign. Outside of Japan, the Naval Ensign has a negative connotation, especially to people who fought against Japan in the Second World War or to those countries that were occupied by Japan.