Where is the red star placed on North Korea's flag?
It sits inside a white disc near the hoist on the broad red band.
Flag of North Korea
North Korea’s flag combines a broad red centre panel with blue and white stripes and a red star inside a white disc near the hoist.
Current flag
Flag emoji 🇰🇵
North Korea
Flag facts
Flag design
The flag has 5 horizontal bands from top to bottom: blue · white · red · white · blue.
- Layout
- Horizontal bands
- Number of bands
- 5
- Details
- Unequal-width bands
- Symbols
- Star – Hoist side
- Shapes
- Disc – Hoist side
- Colours
- Blue, white, and red
What does the flag of North Korea mean?
North Korea's broad red band is framed by white and blue, with a red revolutionary star inside a white disc near the hoist.
A five-band design defined in the Constitution
Article 166 describes a broad red panel through the centre, bordered by a narrow white stripe and a broad blue stripe above and below. A five-pointed red star sits inside a white circle near the hoist, so the emblem is deliberately off-centre.
Article 166 sets the flag’s height-to-width ratio at 1:1.65. From top to bottom, the bands are blue, white, red, white and blue; the red centre is wider than the white separators, while the blue outer bands are broad.
A change formalized in 1948
North Korea continued to use the Taegeukgi after Japan’s colonial rule ended in 1945. KBS reports that the new flag was announced on 24 July 1948 and formally adopted on 8 September, the day the first DPRK Constitution was adopted.
The 1948 Constitution’s Article 102 already described the red centre, the star in a white circle and the surrounding bands. The current Constitution, adopted in 2026, keeps that basic design in Article 166 and sets a different height-to-width ratio.
Historical explanations of the symbols
A 1948 account reproduced with the Library of Congress translation described the red star as a guide toward the people’s goals. It associated red with popular resolve, blue with a peace-loving life and white with freedom and hope; these are period interpretations, not measurements of the design.
The constitutional article specifies the flag’s appearance and proportions but assigns no meanings to its colours or star. Keeping that distinction clear separates the legal description from explanations published by writers and commentators.
Frequently asked questions
What is the ratio of North Korea’s flag?
Article 166 sets the flag’s height-to-width ratio at 1:1.65.
Where is the star on the flag?
The red five-pointed star sits inside a white circle near the hoist, on the broad central red panel.
When was the flag adopted?
It was formally adopted on 8 September 1948, when the first DPRK Constitution was adopted.
Does the Constitution explain what the colours mean?
No. It defines the design and proportions. Symbolic explanations come from separate historical accounts and commentators.
Sources
- North Korean Law Information Center – DPRK Constitution (2026), Article 166 (Korean text)
- North Korea Leadership Watch – Translation of the 2026 DPRK Constitution, Article 166
- Library of Congress – 1956 translation of the 1948 DPRK Constitution, Article 102
- KBS World Radio – National Flag of North Korea
Country facts
- Type
- Country
- Name
- North Korea
- Continent
- Asia
- Capital
- Pyongyang
- ISO 3166-1 alpha-2
- KP
- ISO 3166-1 alpha-3
- PRK
- ISO 3166-1 numeric
- 408
- Top-level domain
- .kp
- Area
- 120,540 km²
- Population
- 26,571,036 (2025)
- Currency
- KPW
- Calling code
- +850
Flags with a similar layout
These flags come from the same region and share one or more design characteristics.
Historical flags: North Korea (960–)
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.
