Flag of North Korea

Democratic People's Republic of Korea

람홍색공화국기(발) Hanja: 藍紅色共和國旗(발) MR: ramhongsaek konghwagukki([t?]pal) RR: ramhongsaek gonghwagukgi([t?]bal) 홍람오각별기 Hanja: 紅藍五角별旗 MR: hongramogakpyŏlgi RR: hongramogakbyeolgi 인공기 Hanja: 人共旗 MR: in'gonggi RR: in-gonggi
Use	National flag and ensign
Proportion	1:2
Adopted	8 September 1948

The flag of North Korea was adopted on 8 September 1948, as the national flag and ensign. The flag was adopted when the northern portion of Korea became a Communist state supported by the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union after the Korean Revolution. The traditional Korean flag was red, white, and blue. The country retained these colours (with more prominence given to the red) and added a red star on a white disk. The red star is a universal symbol of communism, although since the flag's adoption, the philosophy of Juche has replaced Marxism-Leninism as the state's guiding ideology, and references to Communism have been systematically removed from legal documents. The disk recalls the taegeuk found on the flag of South Korea, and represents the opposing principles of nature. The red stripe expresses revolutionary traditions. The two blue stripes stand for sovereignty, peace and friendship. The white stripes symbolize purity.

A 600-lb (270 kg) North Korean national flag flies from the world's third tallest flagpole, which is located at Kijŏng-dong, on the North Korean side of the Military Demarcation Line within the Korean Demilitarized Zone. The flag-pole is 160m tall. There are several other known flags in use. There is a flag for the Korean People's Army, as well as its two subdivisions the Korean People’s Air Force and Korean People's Navy, which follow a common design but with different colors (blue and white for the Navy and dark blue and light blue for the Air Force). There is also a flag of the ruling Worker's Party of Korea, modeled after similar communist party flags, and a flag for the Supreme Commander of the KPA used by Kim Jong-un, which has the Supreme Commander's Arms on a red field.

Gallery

• 
  Flag of the Provisional People’s Committee for North Korea (February 1946-July 1948)
• 
  Flag of the Workers' Party of Korea
• 
  Korean People's Army
• 
  Korean People's Navy
• 
  Korean People's Air Force
• 
  Unification Flag of North and South Korea
• 
  Arirang Mass Games
• 
  The world's third tallest flagpole flying a 270 kg (595 lb) Flag of North Korea. It's 160 m (525 ft) in height, over Kijŏng-dong ("Peace village"), near Panmunjom in Korean Demilitarized Zone.
• 
  Flag of the Committee of the Five Provinces of North Korea, symbol of the North Korea's democratisation

See also

• North Korea
• Korean Unification Flag
• Flag of South Korea

References

• North Korea at Flags of the World