UK emblems swept away by midnight

A sweep of all government offices by 400 workers will be carried out in the final hours of June 30 to replace British emblems with new insignia before midnight.

The Architectural Services Department operation was one of the last remaining tasks to erase signs of the colonial era, said spokesman Irene Watt.

The workers will replace the British symbols with 90 Chinese national emblems and 300 SAR insignia costing a total $500,000.

They will be put up in all government offices - including Government House, central Government Offices and the courts. Union flags will also be replaced.

Government Supplies Department deputy director Leung Kam-hung said it had started distributing 2,500 Chinese national and 3,200 SAR flags to government departments.

International protocol demands flags are raised at sunrise and lowered at sunset. Apart from the flags used in the main handover ceremony, the territory's remaining Union flags will be lowered at 6pm on June 30 and the Chinese and SAR flags raised at 8am on July 1.