Flag of Japan
A disc centred on a plain field.
Current flag
Flag emoji 🇯🇵
Japan
Flag facts
Information about the flag’s design, colours and proportions.
- Proportion
- 2:3 height: width
Flag design
A disc centred on a plain field.
- Layout
- Plain field
- Shapes
- Disc – Centre
- Colours
- White and red
Sources
- Proportion: e-Gov Japan – Act on National Flag and Anthem
Flag comparisons
What does Japan's flag mean?
Japan's flag is white with a deep-red disc at its centre. The disc represents the sun. The official name is Nisshōki, while Hinomaru, meaning “circle of the sun” or “sun disc”, is the familiar name.
The flag's official ratio is 2:3. The disc is centred and its diameter is three fifths of the flag's height. This restrained design connects Japan with its well-known description as the land of the rising sun.
Country facts
- Type
- Country
- Name
- Japan
- Continent
- Asia
- Capital
- Tokyo
- ISO 3166-1 alpha-2
- JP
- ISO 3166-1 alpha-3
- JPN
- ISO 3166-1 numeric
- 392
- Top-level domain
- .jp
- Area
- 377,835 km²
- Population
- 123,366,734 (2025)
- Currency
- JPY
- Calling code
- +81
Flags with a similar layout
These flags come from the same region and share one or more design characteristics.
Historical flags: Japan (701–)
Images are ordered by the years listed in the collection. A listed year may not be the flag’s official adoption year.
About historical flags
Vexilla's historical flag collection includes former flags associated with present-day countries and territories, as well as flags of states, empires, and other authorities that historically governed them.
A flag's inclusion in a country's historical collection does not necessarily mean that the country was independent at the time or that the flag was its own national flag.
The years shown are based on historical records in the dataset and do not always indicate the date of official adoption. The collection is not exhaustive, and historical usage, territorial coverage, and interpretations may vary.