The Chinese word 国旗 (guóqí), meaning "national flag", is a compound noun formed by combining two meaningful characters: 国 (guó), which means "country" or "nation", and 旗 (qí), which means "flag". This structure follows a common and logical pattern in Mandarin known as a modifier-head or determinative compound, where the first element 国 specifies the type or category, and the second element 旗 is the core noun being specified. Thus, the word literally and directly translates to "country-flag", efficiently conveying the concept of a flag that represents a sovereign state.