North Korea

Local Name: 조선민주주의인민공화국
ISO Code: KP PRK 408
FIPS 10-4 Code: KN
MARC Code: kn
IOC Code: PRK

Webster's Concise Encyclopedia of Flags & Coats of Arms, Crampton, 1985 states about the flag:

North Korea

The flag created in 1948 consists of three stripes - blue, red, blue - separated from each other by two narrow white lines, the proportions being 6 : 2 : 17 : 2 : 6. The hoist of the red stripe is charged with a white disc containing a red five-pointed star. The blue stripes stand for the people's desire for peace, the red one symbolizes the revolutionary spirit of the struggle for socialism, and white - a traditional Korean color - represents the purity of the ideals of (North) Korea and national sovereignty. The five-pointed star signifies the happy prospects of the people building socialism under the leadership of the Korean Worker's Party. The white disc suggests the yin and yang symbol ("t'aeguk" in Korean) in the flag of the Republic of Korea.

Jarig Bakker, 28 September 1999

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Smith (1975) wrote:

White has been the traditional colour of the Korean nation and figures in the flag of North Korea as a symbol of purity, strength and dignity. The blue stripes represent a commitment to peace, while the red indicates the nation is on a path to socialism. The star is a symbol of the leading role played by the Korean Workers Party, in creating the new economic, social and political of the country following World War 2. The white disk on which the star appears ma be reminiscent of the traditional Korean T'aeguk, symbol of the universe.

Rob Raeside, 16 February 2000

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The stripes width are given in Album 2000 as 4+1+15+1+4 while the midpoint of the disk is along horizontal axis as 17+33. The disk seems to be (measuring the image in Album) of diameter half the hoist size, while the red star is apparently inscribed in a circle of diameter 10 units as used above.

Jarig Bakker quotes that the stripes are 6+2+17+2+6. So, who is right? Or was there maybe something changed since the original flag was adopted in 1948?

According to the Flag Law of the DPRK(1992), the proportion of the flag is:

1. blue : 1/6 of the width (vertical length) each
2. white + red + white : 4/6 of the width
3. white : 1/24 of "2" each
4. red : 22/24 of "2"
5. centre of the white circle and red star : 1/3 of the fly
6. diameter of the white circle : 2/3 of "2"
7. diameter of the circumference of the red star : "6" - 1/2 of "3"

Nabi from South Korea,

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According to this I constructed new image of this flag and the new construction sheet. This means that the construction details given in Album 2000 are not correct. If the above numbers are made into whole numbers, the width of the flag is 36, i.e. 6+1+22+1+6, and length 72, i.e. 24+48, and with disk diameter 16 and star inscribed in circle of 15.5 (OK, we have to double the numbers to get all whole numbers, but this description seems easier to follow).
Željko Heimer, 6 May 2002

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It appears that the flag of People's Korea can be hoisted vertically, as shown outside Pyongyang Central Train Station (http://www.travel-images.com/korean49.jpg). Also shown in this picture is a vertical hoisting of the flag of the Korean Workers' Party, which, it is worth noting, is not the only political party in People's Korea - also sitting in the Supreme People's Assembly in Pyongyang are the Chondoist Chongu Party and the Korean Social Democratic Party. Whether or not these parties actually do anything is another matter.
Dafydd Young, 25 November 2003

From the constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea:

Ch. VII Article 168

The national emblem of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea bears the design of a grand hydroelectric power plant under Mount Paektu, the sacred mountain of the revolution, and bearing the beaming light of a five-pointed red star, with ears of rice forming an oval frame, bound with a red ribbon bearing the inscription "The Democratic People's Republic of Korea"