North Korea has changed the proportions of its national flag for the first time since the country’s founding in 1948, breaking with a decades-old design closely associated with founder Kim IL Sung.
The DPRK government’s official website, Naenara, recently began displaying a flag with an aspect ratio. The two thin white stripes on the flag also appear thicker, widened to roughly a third of the blue stripes at the top and bottom.
The change was formally ratified on March 23, 2026, under the revised Socialist Constitution, though it was not confirmed by North Korean sources until Naenara uploaded the new charter text on Tuesday.
The revision makes North Korea the only country in the world to use a flag with a 1:1.65 ratio. The previous 1:2 ratio is the second-most common flag design, used by more than 50 countries.
Despite being relatively subtle, the alteration is politically charged. The adoption of the “monolithic ideological system,” which revolved around the personality cult of the leader in 1967, made the flag’s design, including the 1:2 proportion, attributed to Kim Il Sung. Recently, Kim Jong Un has tried to establish himself within the ranks of North Korea’s historical figures by undermining his predecessors whenever possible. North Korea has altered its national anthem in 2024, and with the new flag design, Kim Jong Un can claim that he has managed to leave his legacy in one of the most prominent symbols of his nation.
The description of the flag offered by Naenara has also changed accordingly: the white circle and stripes on the flag now symbolise “the loyalty of the Korean people who support the leadership of the Party and the leader with a pure mind,” abandoning the former description based on the ethnic unity of Koreans.
