Flag of Bhutan
Bhutan’s flag is divided diagonally, yellow above and orange below, with a white dragon along the dividing line. Its constitution says the yellow is the secular tradition, embodied in the King, the orange the Buddhist spiritual tradition, the dragon the kingdom’s name, and its white the pure thoughts of the people.
Easily confused with
How to read it
The Constitution of Bhutan (2008) sets out the flag and its meaning in its First Schedule. The upper yellow half, the one that touches the base by the pole, is the secular tradition and personifies the King. The lower orange half, which reaches to the top at the fly, is the spiritual tradition and the flourishing of Buddhist teaching, the Kagyu and Nyingma traditions in particular. The dragon pressing down on the dividing line is the name of the kingdom, and its white stands for the undefiled thoughts of a people loyal to the kingdom though of different ethnic and linguistic origins. The National Flag Rules, endorsed by the National Assembly as its Resolution 28 on 8 June 1972, give the same meanings, name the kingdom as Druk, and fix the shape: whatever the length, the flag is two thirds as high, 9 by 6 for example. Store norske leksikon says the present version came into use in 1969, reworked from the first flag of 1947.
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What the 1972 rules say about flying it
The rules call the flag the symbol of the kingdom’s independence and sovereignty. It is not to be used as a wrapper or a cover, not flown lower than other flags and not flown upside down. It flies in the capital, at the King’s palace and at the offices of the civil service and the armed forces from sunrise to sunset, and at half-mast in times of mourning set by the state.
Earlier versions
Store norske leksikon describes the first flag, of 1947, as 4:5, with a pale green dragon facing the pole, and says other early versions had the red at the top or a green dragon. It also describes the dragon as holding pearls in its claws.
Two dragon flags: Bhutan and Wales
The flag of Wales also carries a dragon, but red and walking on a field of white above green, a design officially adopted in 1959, the Flag Institute says. Bhutan’s dragon is white and lies along the diagonal between the yellow and the orange.
Read next
- Next in Asian flagsFlag of the MaldivesThe flag of the Maldives is red with a green rectangle in the centre holding a white crescent. The constitution gives no meanings; Store norske leksikon gives them as the blood of the nation’s heroes for the red, peace and progress for the green, and the people’s and the state’s faith in Islam for the crescent.
- The same shape in African flagsFlag of the ComorosThe Comoros flag is four horizontal stripes, yellow, white, red and blue from the top, with a green triangle along the pole holding a white crescent and four white stars in a line between its tips. Norway’s Store norske leksikon explains the crescent as the symbol of Islam and the four stars as the four islands of the Comoros; Lex says the four stripes are said to stand for the islands too.
More asian flags
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with squares and rectangles or triangles.
Sources
- Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan, 2008, Constitution of Bhutan, Article 1 and First Schedule (English text), Constitute Project, Art. 1; Schedule 1, The National Flag
- The National Flag Rules of Bhutan, 1972, National Flag Rules, endorsed as Resolution 28 of the 36th Session of the National Assembly, 8 June 1972 (English text), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO Lex), Rules 1–4
- Bhutans flagg og våpen (Store norske leksikon), Store norske leksikon, “Bhutans flagg og våpen”, by Lars Roede, Store norske leksikon, Article text
- Wales Flag, UK flags, The Flag Institute, Flag details and notes
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 13, 2026. How we research
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