Azernews.Az

By Alimat Aliyeva

North Korea has introduced a change to the proportions of its national flag for the first time since the country's establishment in 1948, in what analysts believe is part of leader Kim Jong-un's broader effort to establish a distinct national identity.

According to a revised version of the North Korean Constitution published on the country's external propaganda website, Naenara, the flag's official height-to-width ratio has been changed from 1:2 to 1:1.65. The adjustment makes the flag shorter in width while preserving its familiar colours and principal design elements.

Article 166 of the amended Constitution outlines the new proportions. The flag continues to feature a prominent red horizontal band, white and blue stripes, and a red five-pointed star positioned inside a white circle.

North Korean authorities have also reiterated the symbolic meaning of the flag's colours. The central red section represents the sacrifices and bloodshed of revolutionary fighters who resisted Japanese colonial rule. The white circle and stripes signify loyalty to the country's leadership and the ruling Workers' Party of Korea. Meanwhile, the blue stripes represent independence, opposition to imperialism, international peace, friendship and national sovereignty.

The revision comes amid Kim's efforts to reshape the country's political identity and distance North Korea's national symbols from the historical concept of a unified Korean nation.

In 2024, Pyongyang modified its national anthem, replacing the expression "three thousand," traditionally referring to the entire Korean Peninsula, with the phrase "this world."

North Korea has also removed constitutional references to reunification, reinforcing Kim's position that North and South Korea should be regarded as two separate and hostile states.

Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University's Institute for Far Eastern Studies, said the flag adjustment reflects an attempt to maintain historical continuity while establishing a national identity associated with Kim's leadership.

He added that the change further embeds the government's two-hostile-states policy into the country's constitutional framework and national symbols.