North Korea revises constitution to change national flag's aspect ratio

Key facts

• Article 166 of the revised constitution sets the flag's height-to-width ratio at 1 to 1.65, replacing 1 to 2.
• The flag's overall design is unchanged: a broad red center stripe, narrow white stripes, blue stripes and a red star in a white circle.
• The constitution says the red stripe stands for blood shed by anti-Japan fighters during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule.
• Observers said the ratio change might have reflected efforts to craft a new national image under Kim Jong-un.

North Korea has revised its constitution to change the aspect ratio of its national flag for the first time since the state was established in 1948, according to the amended basic law posted on the website of Pyongyang's propaganda outlet Naenara.

Article 166 of the revised constitution stipulates that the ratio of the flag's height to its width is 1 to 1.65, replacing the previous ratio of 1 to 2. The 1-to-2 rule had remained unchanged in the law until the North's constitutional revision in September 2023, Yonhap reported.

Despite the ratio change, the flag's overall design remains intact: a broad red stripe in the center, narrow white stripes above and below it, blue stripes above and below the white stripes, and a red five-pointed star in a white circle. The constitution says the red stripe stands for the blood shed by anti-Japan fighters who dedicated their lives to defending the country's freedom and independence during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule. The white circle and two white stripes symbolize people's loyalty to the nation's leader and the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, and the two blue stripes represent the revolutionary spirit of the people struggling for peace, friendship and unity in the world, as well as the country's sovereignty.

Observers said the change in the flag's aspect ratio might have reflected Pyongyang's efforts to craft a new national image under Kim Jong-un, the third-generation hereditary ruler, as he has sought to build his own governing style and national identity while retaining some legacies of his predecessors.