The flag was adopted when the northern portion of Korea became a socialist republic supported by the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union following the restoration of independence of Korea in 1945. The flag itself was designed and promulgated by Kim Tu-bong and formally replaced the taegukgi in July 1948. The new flag was called People's Republic flag.
A 270-kg (600lb) North Korean national flag flies from the world's third tallest flagpole, which is located at Kijŏng-dong, on the North Korean side of the Military Demarcation Line within the Korean Demilitarized Zone. The flag-pole is 160 meters (520 feet) tall.
There are several other known flags in use. There are flags for the Korean People's Army, and its two subdivisions the Korean People's Air Force and Korean People's Navy, which follow a common design but with different colours (blue and white for the Navy and dark blue and light blue for the Air Force). There is also a flag of the ruling Worker's Party of Korea, modelled after similar communist party flags, and a flag for the Supreme Commander of the KPA used by Kim Jong-un, which has the Supreme Commander's Arms on a red field.
|
