Screen & Culture

Hongqi, the Red Flag: The Story of China's State Limousine

By DARTZ Editorial · 25 October 2026

Hongqi, 红旗 or Red Flag, is China's oldest passenger car brand, founded in 1958 by First Automobile Works (FAW) in Changchun. Its first car, the CA72, appeared on 1 August 1958 with a V8 engine. The CA770 of 1963 served China's leaders until 1980, and production stopped in 1981. Revived in the 1990s, Hongqi again carries China's leaders, in cars such as the L5 and the N701, and sold more than 370,000 cars in 2023.

Every country that builds cars wants its leaders to ride in one of its own. In China, that car has a name that says everything: Hongqi, 红旗, the Red Flag.

1958: the first Red Flag

In 1955 China’s leadership expressed the wish to replace the Soviet limousines it used with a car built at home. The task went to First Automobile Works, FAW, in Changchun. Its first Hongqi, the CA72, appeared on 1 August 1958, drawing on a 1955 Chrysler and powered by a V8. A convertible followed for the parade marking the tenth anniversary of the People’s Republic, in 1959. (Hongqi on Wikipedia)

The CA770

The CA770, introduced in 1963, became the Red Flag most people picture: long, upright and black. It was built until 1980, about 1,600 in all, and carried the country’s leaders and its official guests. Production of Hongqi cars stopped entirely in 1981.

A Hongqi CA770 limousine from the rear, with its Red Flag script badge, chrome bumper and twin tail lamps

Revival

Hongqi returned in the mid-1990s, first with models based on foreign designs, including an Audi 100 and a Lincoln Town Car. FAW then developed its own cars again. By 2013 the Hongqi H7 had become the official car for minister-level officials, and in 2014 the L5 was used as China’s presidential car on a state visit to New Zealand.

The modern Red Flag

In 2018 the British designer Giles Taylor joined Hongqi, and the brand grew fast: from about 33,000 cars in 2018 to more than 300,000 in 2021 and more than 370,000 in 2023. The N701 state limousine appeared at the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover, in 2022. Hongqi remains the car of China’s state occasions and parades.

A black Hongqi L5 state limousine with Chinese flags on its wings

Why it matters

Hongqi shows what a state car is for. It carries a leader, but it also carries a message: that the country can build the finest car on its own roads. Read what an official state car is and why China loves long-wheelbase cars.

DARTZ and China

DARTZ entered the Chinese market in 2011. Its Black Dragon Pullman of 2012 was built for China only, and cars sold in China carry a gold DARTZ badge set with 55 diamonds. Read DARTZ in China and the story of the Black Dragon.

A gold DARTZ Prombron’ in a Chinese showroom hung with red lanterns

A gold DARTZ emblem in a red lacquered presentation box

About DARTZ

DARTZ is a Riga carrosserie that builds bespoke, opulent vehicles, armoured or non-armoured, in strictly limited numbers. It calls them BONDs: Bespoke Opulent Noble Drives.

Its heritage runs back to the Russo-Baltic Wagon Factory (RBVZ), founded in Riga in 1869, whose automobile department built its first car in 1909. Leonard F. Yankelovich revived that heritage as DARTZ in 1988. The group, DARTZ Grupa OÜ, is registered in Tallinn, Estonia.

Its Prombron’ models, from the Iron Diamond and Black Dragon to the Black Shark, Black Alligator and Black Stallion, have been covered by Top Gear, Forbes, Robb Report and Fox News, among many others.