Imperial Japanese Navy Vice Admiral Flag, 1889 to 1945 - The Imperial Japanese Navy (INJ) adopted new rank flags for the grade of admiral in 1889. They were based on the Imperial War Flag, but differed in that there were only eight rays emanating from the red sun disc. An admiral flew the flag undefaced; a vice admiral's flag, as in this example, added a single red stripe the top edge. The INJ only elevated 45 officers to the grade of vice admiral (14 of them posthumously); an given the almost total destruction of the INJ during the war few admirals flags have survived.