Yellow Dragon in the context of "Big Dipper"

In Chinese philosophy, earth or soil (Chinese: 土; pinyin: tǔ) is one of the five concepts that conform the wuxing. Earth is the Qi balance of both yin and yang in the Wuxing philosophy, as well as the changing or central point of physical matter or a subject. Its motion is centralising, and its energy is stabilizing and conserving.

Earth is associated with the colour yellow or ochre and the planet Saturn and it lies at the centre of the four directions of the compass in Chinese cosmology. It is associated with late summer and also the turning point of each of the four seasons, as Earth is prone to being over burdened or stuck Its climate is that of dampness causing the body-mind to be clouded through a deficiency of yang qi. In traditional Chinese medicine, earth governs the yin, Zang organ the spleen, and the yang, Fu organ stomach, mouth and muscles. Its Primal Spirit is the Yi, and emotion of happiness and is represented by the Yellow Dragon or Qilin, color yellow and golden.

The flag of the Qing dynasty was an emblem adopted in 1889 featuring the Azure Dragon on a plain yellow field with the red flaming pearl in the upper left corner. It became the first national flag of China and is usually referred to as the "Yellow Dragon Flag" (traditional Chinese: 黃龍旗; simplified Chinese: 黄龙旗; pinyin: huánglóngqí).

Ruling China from 1644 until the overthrow of the monarchy during the Xinhai Revolution, the Qing dynasty was the last imperial dynasty in Chinese history. Between 1862 and 1912, the dynasty represented itself with the dragon flag.