An Imperial Chinese junk pennant captured during the First China War 1839-42. It is part of a collection belonging to Sir Robert Oliver (1783-1848). The pennant is made of plain woven orange silk. It has indented edges and is hand sewn. The surface is applied with a silver yin and yang symbol at the hoist, then eight groups of three vertical bars (trigrams) with a cloud and tongue of flame motif at the fly.

According to the Da Qing Huidian Tu ('Illustrated Collected Statutes of the Great Qing'), some military flags have pennants attached above the main flag. The design of these pennants consists of flames and flashes. None of the patterns illustrated in the 'Collected Statutes' exactly matches this pennant.

Robert Oliver became Superintendent of the Indian Navy in 1837, a post he would hold until his death on 5 August 1848. The Indian Navy was the naval arm of the Honourable East India Company. It provided steamers that played a crucial role in naval operations during the First China War as were able to penetrate the interior of the country along its rivers.