North Korea Flag Change: Kim Jong Un Redesigns National Flag for First Time in 78 Years

North Korea has changed the proportions of its national flag for the first time since the regime was founded in 1948, in the latest move by leader Kim Jong Un to stamp his own identity on the state his grandfather built. The North Korea flag change alters the height-to-width ratio from 1:2 to 1:1.65, according to Article 166 of the revised constitution published on the state-run Naenara website on Friday 13 November 2026.

The revision was confirmed by South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency and the Korea Herald on 13 November, and it arrives days after unverified rumours about Kim’s health circulated online. The flag’s design itself is untouched: the broad red stripe, the narrow white and blue bands and the red five-pointed star in a white circle all remain exactly as they were.

North Korea Flag Change — Quick Reference Summary

What the North Korea Flag Change Actually Alters

The change is a matter of geometry, not imagery. Under the old rule, the flag was twice as wide as it was tall. Under the new ratio of 1:1.65, the flag is noticeably shorter and squarer, while every element of the design stays in place.

The new proportions had already been spotted in public before the constitutional text appeared. When Kim visited the Chinese border city of Dandong on Saturday 24 October, residents were photographed waving flags with the revised shape. North Korean athletes also used the new proportions during the Asian Games in Japan in September and October.

Analysts quoted in South Korean media read the revision as deliberate symbolism. The old 1:2 ratio had been written into law since the state’s founding and had survived every constitutional revision, including the last one in September 2023. Changing it now, 78 years on, is a visible break with the visual language of Kim Il Sung’s era.

Why Kim Jong Un Is Rewriting a Symbol From His Grandfather’s Era

The flag revision sits inside a wider project. Since taking power, Kim has worked to build a governing style and national identity distinct from his predecessors, while keeping parts of their legacy intact.

Earlier in 2026, the regime removed reunification-related provisions from its constitution, formalising Kim’s “two hostile states” policy, under which South Korea is treated as a separate and hostile state rather than a partner in eventual reunification. The flag change follows the same logic: a national symbol recast for a state that no longer defines itself by the goal of reunification.

Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies, told the Korea Herald the revision was another step by Kim to forge a distinct national identity. The design’s survival matters too. By keeping the red field, the stripes and the star, Kim is revising the symbol rather than replacing it, signalling continuity with the regime’s founding story even as he edits its details.

The Death Rumours That Surfaced Days Before the Announcement

The flag announcement followed days of unverified claims on social media that Kim had died of a brain haemorrhage. No credible source supported the claims, and North Korean state media answered them in the usual way: by publishing fresh photographs of the leader in public.

Photographs in the state newspaper Rodong Sinmun showed Kim, 42, touring a clothing and footwear exhibition with his daughter. The images were carried widely in South Korean and international reporting as evidence that the rumours were baseless.

The episode is a reminder of how little outside information escapes the closed state. When a leader who rarely appears in public goes quiet, speculation fills the gap within hours. This time the speculation was followed, within days, by a genuine and verifiable piece of news: the first change to the national flag in 78 years.

What the Flag Change Signals for Diplomacy With Washington

The timing also matters for the diplomacy now gathering pace in Asia. United States President Donald Trump is due to hold a historic three-way meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday 19 November, on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Shenzhen. The White House said on Friday that Trump has no plans to meet Kim during his Asia trip, which also takes in the ASEAN summit in Manila.

That dampens speculation about a renewed Trump-Kim meeting, which the US president had previously said he wanted before the end of the year. The two men last met in June 2019 at the inter-Korean border, after summits in Singapore in 2018 and Hanoi in February 2019.

Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed Kim’s recent China visit during talks with his South Korean counterpart Cho Hyun in Beijing on Friday 13 November. Beijing said its relations with North Korea focus on economic cooperation rather than political affairs, and the two sides also discussed the possibility of a United States-North Korea summit.

Washington is running parallel diplomatic tracks across the region, from Gaza to Ukraine, and the North Korea file is now moving again. The flag change does not alter Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal or its missile programme, but it does show a leader confident enough to rewrite a symbol his grandfather created, and determined to be seen doing it on his own terms. Our earlier reporting on Trump’s planned trilateral meeting with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin sets out how the American president is approaching the region, while Tony Blair’s Gaza diplomacy shows the other track Washington is pressing at the same time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What exactly has changed about the North Korean flag? A: Only its proportions. The height-to-width ratio has moved from 1:2 to 1:1.65, making the flag shorter and squarer. The red field, white and blue stripes and red five-pointed star in a white circle are unchanged.

Q: When was the change approved? A: The revision was formally approved on 23 March 2026 as part of a revision to North Korea’s Socialist Constitution. It became public when the amended constitution was published on the state-run Naenara website on Friday 13 November 2026.

Q: Has North Korea ever changed its flag before? A: Not its proportions. The 1:2 ratio had been in law since the regime was founded in 1948, and it survived every constitutional revision, including the one in September 2023. This is the first change in 78 years.

Q: Why is Kim Jong Un changing the flag? A: Analysts in South Korea read it as part of Kim’s effort to build a national identity distinct from his predecessors. It follows the removal of reunification provisions from the constitution earlier in 2026, under his “two hostile states” policy towards South Korea.

Q: Will Donald Trump meet Kim Jong Un on his Asia trip? A: No, according to the White House. Trump meets Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin in Shenzhen on 19 November, but a US official said he is not expected to meet Kim during his visits to the Philippines and China.

Myth-Busting

Myth: North Korea has a brand-new flag design. No. The design is unchanged. Only the proportions have been revised, from a 1:2 ratio to 1:1.65. The red field, stripes and star are exactly as before.

Myth: Kim Jong Un has died. No. The claim circulated as unverified social media rumour. North Korean state media published fresh photographs of Kim touring a clothing and footwear exhibition with his daughter, and no credible source has supported the rumour.

Myth: The flag change means North Korea is opening up. No. Nothing in the revision points to political or economic opening. It is a symbolic change inside a system that remains closed, made alongside a constitutional turn away from reunification.