Eight Banners

The Eight Banners (Manchu: jakūn gūsa) were the military and administrative backbone of the Later Jin and Qing dynasties. Every Manchu household belonged to one of these divisions. In times of war, the banners served as armies, but they also structured all of Manchu society. Nurhaci created the system in the early 1600s, and his banner armies were crucial for uniting the scattered Jurchen tribes—later renamed "Manchu" by his son Hong Taiji—and for the Qing conquest of the Ming dynasty.

Conquest of the Ming dynasty

As Mongol and Han forces joined the Qing military, separate Mongol Eight Banners and Han Eight Banners were formed alongside the original Manchu ones. The banner troops were the Qing military’s elite; the rest of the imperial forces made up the Green Standard Army. Banner membership became hereditary, and bannermen received land and income. After the Ming fell, Qing emperors still depended on the Eight Banners for later campaigns.

But following the Ten Great Campaigns in the mid-1700s, the banner armies’ quality dropped. Their failure to put down the Taiping Rebellion in the mid-1800s destroyed their reputation. By the late 1800s, regional forces like the Xiang Army handled most of the empire’s defense. Over time, the Eight Banners came to symbolize Manchu identity, even as their military power faded.

Establishment

Nurhaci’s early forces followed Jurchen custom: small hunting parties of about a dozen men linked by blood, marriage, clan, or residence. In 1601, as his numbers grew, he reorganized his troops into companies of 300 households. Five companies made a battalion, and ten battalions made a banner. Four banners were created first—Yellow, White, Red, and Blue—each named for its flag’s color.

By 1614, there were about 400 companies. In 1615, the number of banners doubled with the addition of “bordered” versions. Each original banner’s troops were split between a plain and a bordered banner. The bordered flags got a red border, except the Bordered Red Banner, which had a white border.

After a string of victories under Nurhaci and his successors, the banner armies grew quickly. Starting in the late 1620s, allied and conquered Mongol tribes were absorbed into the Eight Banner system. In 1635, Hong Taiji renamed his people from Jurchen to Manchu. That same year, the Mongols were separated into the Mongol Eight Banners.

Rewards and Privileges

During the Qing dynasty, the Eight Banners brought major material, legal, and social perks. Bannermen got state stipends, land, grain rations, and housing in designated garrison quarters, mostly in Beijing. Instead of relying on war spoils after the early conquests, the Qing state set up a salaried system that gave bannermen and their families a steady income.

Banner status also created a legal divide: bannermen were governed by separate banner courts and internal disciplinary systems, distinct from the regular civilian administration. This reinforced their identity as a unique military-administrative estate within the Qing. Affiliation with the banners opened doors to jobs, official posts, and imperial favor—especially for those in the Upper Three Banners, which were under direct imperial control. Over time, banner membership became a key marker of Manchu identity, preserving cultural practices while integrating different ethnic groups into the Qing system.

Though bannermen were vital to the Manchus, by the 1800s the cost of maintaining hereditary stipends strained the imperial treasury. Banner status still carried symbolic prestige, but many bannermen faced economic decline. Under Hong Taiji, the banner armies invaded Joseon on the Korean Peninsula twice: first in 1627, then again in 1636. As a result, Joseon was forced to break its ties with the Ming and become a Qing tributary.

At first, Han troops were placed into the existing Manchu Banners. When Hong Taiji captured Yongping in 1629, a group of artillerymen surrendered to him. In 1631, these troops were organized into the Old Han Army under Han commander Tong Yangxing. These artillery units were decisive at the siege of Dalinghe that same year, defeating Ming general Zu Dashou’s forces.

In 1636, Hong Taiji proclaimed the Qing dynasty. Between 1637 and 1642, the Old Han Army—mostly Liaodong natives who had surrendered at Yongping, Fushun, Dalinghe, and elsewhere—was reorganized into the Han Eight Banners. The original Eight Banners were then called the Manchu Eight Banners. Though still referred to as the “Eight Banners,” there were now effectively twenty-four banner armies: eight for each ethnic group—Manchu, Mongol, and Han.

Gunpowder weapons like muskets and artillery were used specifically by the Han Banners. After Hong Taiji’s death, Dorgon, commander of the Solid White Banner, became regent. He quickly purged his rivals and took control of Hong Taiji’s Solid Blue Banner. By 1644, an estimated two million...