Flag of North Korea

How to read it

Article 166 of the constitution of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, as revised in March 2026 and translated by the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK), describes a wide red stripe in the centre with narrow white stripes above and below it, then blue stripes, and a red five-pointed star in a white circle on the side of the red stripe by the flagpole. It sets the height to the length at 1:1.65. Store norske leksikon dates the flag’s official adoption to 10 July 1948.

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A shorter flag since the 2026 constitution

Until the revision the constitution gave the flag’s height to length as 1:2 (article 170 in the text of 2016); the 2026 text gives 1:1.65, which Store norske leksikon writes as 20:33. Store norske leksikon dates the change to March 2025; HRNK says the revised constitution was promulgated in March 2026.

What the colours stand for

The constitution gives the colours no meaning. Store norske leksikon cites the country’s official website: red for revolution, white for purity, strength and dignity, and blue for sovereignty, peace and friendship. It describes the red star as the common symbol of communism and socialism.

Telling it from the flag of Laos

The flag of Laos is also red and blue with a white disc, the other way round: Laos’s constitution makes it dark blue with red edges and a white moon in the middle. North Korea’s flag has the red in the centre and the blue at top and bottom, thin white lines between them, and its white circle, holding a red star, sits towards the pole.

The flag before 1948

After 1945 both halves of Korea flew the Taegukgi of 1883, Store norske leksikon says; South Korea made it official in 1949, and it is South Korea’s flag today. The north adopted the present flag in 1948.