Why should we hang a white flag instead of other colors when surrendering in the war?

War has always been feared and hated by people, but until now, there are still large and small conflicts in the world every day. Have you ever wondered whether the losing side of the war will raise a white flag to declare surrender and demand a truce in order to reduce losses? So how did this practice come into being?

As early as in ancient times, there was a custom of raising a white flag. However, the white flag at that time did not mean surrender, but one of the warring parties asked for negotiations with the other party and raised the white flag to show sincerity. After holding the white flag, he sent his representative to negotiate with the other side. During the negotiation, neither side can launch an attack until the two sides reach an agreement. But with the passage of time, raising the white flag evolved into surrender, which has been used ever since.

In fact, it was the Qin Dynasty that used white as a symbol of surrender earlier in China. In the Qin Dynasty, people used black as a symbol of victory, so the opposite color of black, white, was a symbol of failure. At the end of the Qin Dynasty, Liu Bang attacked Xianyang City and put up a white flag to surrender. This tradition continues to this day. Although the West also uses the white flag to express surrender, they think that white is a symbol of nothingness, and failure will lead to nothing, so raising the white flag proves that you have declared surrender to the other side.

In fact, in a strict sense, raising a white flag is a sign of a truce and a proof that one warring party wants to negotiate with the other. Moreover, not all white flags represent surrender, but also neutrality. In some sea areas under military jurisdiction, if you want to pass, you must hang a white flag. Generally speaking, raising a white flag still means weakness, otherwise people will not regard it as a sign of surrender most of the time.