Last modified: 2004-12-22 by phil nelson
Keywords: urban council: hong kong | sanitary board: hong kong |
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The Sanitary Board was formed in 1883, and was renamed Urban
Council in 1935. Its role was expanded to the maintenance of
markets, cultural and sporting facilities in Hong Kong Island
and Kowloon. In the 1960s it assumed a coat-of-arms which I
would describe as: "Or (yellow) a bauhinia blossom proper
(natural colour, i.e. magenta), a chief azure (blue), on a
wreath azure and argent (silver) a demi-lion crowned or
holding a pearl proper." Therefore the crest of the
coat-of-arms of the colony of Hong Kong appears inside the
chief of the shield. Since the 1970s a simpler device was
used instead, a hollow bauhinia blossom with thick magenta or
red outline. Since the 1980s this badge appeared on the flag
of the Urban Council, which was a magenta flag with a
*magenta* bauhinia blossom with thick *white* outline.
Proportions 1:2. In all three cases the bauhinia had five
petals, the top one larger than the two underneath, which in
turn were larger than the bottom two. The Urban Council
became the Provisional Urban Council immediately after the
Handover to China, and was abolished in December 1999.
Miles Li, 8 November 2002