Bhutan flag picture
| Name | Druk Yul Gyaldar (འབྲུག་ཡུལ་རྒྱལ་དར — the national flag) |
|---|---|
| Adopted | 1969 (the current form) June 8, 1972 (the National Flag Rules) |
| Designers | Mayum Choying Wangmo Dorji (1947); Dasho Shingkhar Lam (the 1960s redesign) |
| Proportion | 3 : 2 (fly : hoist) |
| Law | National Flag Rules, 1972; Constitution of 2008, First Schedule |
The Bhutanese flag is a white thunder dragon laid across the diagonal of a yellow and orange field, a jewel in each of its claws — the king's color above, the monks' color below, and the Druk that gives the country its name between them.
An overview
The national flag of Bhutan is divided diagonally from the lower hoist corner to the upper fly corner — yellow above, orange below — and across the line lies the Druk, the white thunder dragon of Bhutanese mythology, a jewel gripped in each of its four claws. The ratio is 2:3. It is one of only a handful of national flags to carry a dragon, and the only one whose dragon gives the country its name.
The flag was designed by a queen. In 1947, invited to the Asian Relations Conference in New Delhi, Bhutan had no flag; Mayum Choying Wangmo Dorji made one with the senior clergy of the Central Monastic Body — a near-square field of yellow and red with a green dragon. It flew at the signing of the Indo-Bhutan Treaty in 1949. The dragon turned white in 1956; in the 1960s King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck had his secretary Dasho Shingkhar Lam remake the square flag on the measure of India’s, so that it would flutter, and lay the dragon along the diagonal; and in 1969 the red became orange. On June 8, 1972, the National Assembly gave the flag its Rules.
The Constitution of 2008 restates the flag and its meanings in its First Schedule: the king’s yellow, the monks’ orange, and the dragon between them for the equal weight of both.
The Druk
Bhutan calls itself Druk Yul, the Land of the Thunder Dragon, and the Druk is the dragon of its mythology — the voice in the Himalayan storms that gave the country its name. On the flag it is white, drawn with black outlines, and it lies along the diagonal where yellow meets orange, its head toward the fly, a norbu — a jewel — gripped in each of its four claws.
The Constitution reads the dragon precisely. Its white is the purity of inner thoughts and deeds that unite the ethnically and linguistically diverse peoples of Bhutan; its jewels are the country’s wealth and the security of its people; its snarling mouth is the commitment of Bhutan’s guardian deities to the defense of the land. Its place across the dividing line signifies the equal importance of the civil and the monastic traditions, and the bond between sovereign and people. The first Druk of 1947 was green — the turquoise dragon of religious tradition; it turned white in 1956, and in the 1960s the artist Kilkhor Lopen Jada redrew it with the longer, gentler undulation it has today.
Official color specification
The yellow is the saffron of the King’s kabney, the ceremonial scarf; the orange is the color of the monastic robe. The Flag Institute’s specification records them as Pantone 116 and 165, the values below their usual matches; the Druk is white with black outlines.
| Color | Hex | Pantone | RGB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yellow | #FFD520 | 116 | 255, 213, 32 |
| Orange | #FF4E12 | 165 | 255, 78, 18 |
| White | #FFFFFF | White | 255, 255, 255 |
Symbolism and meaning
Bhutan is one of the few countries whose constitution states what its flag means. The First Schedule of 2008 restates the Rules of 1972, and the reading is exact.
The two halves are Bhutan’s dual system of government — the chhoe-sid — in cloth: the sovereign’s authority and the sangha’s, given equal ground.
Design and official specification
The National Flag Rules of 1972 fix the proportion — the 3:2 of India’s 9 by 6 foot flag, adopted so the flag would fly — and five standard sizes, from a 21 by 14 foot flag for the great dzongs down to a 9 by 6 inch flag for the cars of those entitled to one. The dragon lies along the diagonal, facing the fly, so that however the flag hangs it never appears to face the earth.
| Element | Specification | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Proportion | 2 : 3 (the Rules give it as 3:2, length to width) | The measure of India's 9 × 6 ft flag, adopted so the flag would flutter |
| The diagonal | From the lower hoist corner to the upper fly corner — yellow above, orange below | Two equal triangles |
| The Druk | A white dragon outlined in black, laid along the diagonal and facing the fly, a jewel in each of its four claws | Repositioned onto the diagonal so it never "faces the earth" when the flag hangs limp |
| Standard sizes | 6.4 × 4.3 m (21 × 14 ft); 3.7 × 2.4 m (12 × 8 ft); 1.8 × 1.2 m (6 × 4 ft); 0.9 × 0.6 m (3 × 2 ft) | The National Flag Rules, 1972 |
| Car flag | 23 × 15 cm (9 × 6 in) | For the cars of those the Rules entitle |
| Colors | Yellow Pantone 116; orange Pantone 165; the Druk white with black outlines | The Flag Institute's specification |
| In the Constitution | The flag and its meanings restated in the First Schedule | Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan, July 18, 2008 |
How the flag evolved
A queen’s embroidery, a dragon turned from green to white, a square remade to flutter, and a red turned orange — the flag’s story in four moves.
1947
A queen's design
Invited to the Asian Relations Conference in New Delhi in March 1947, Bhutan needed a flag. Mayum Choying Wangmo Dorji — mother of the future prime minister Jigme Palden Dorji — designed one with the senior clergy of the Central Monastic Body: a near-square field divided diagonally, yellow and red, with a green dragon — the "turquoise druk" of religious tradition — embroidered by the court painter Lharip Taw Taw. It flew at the signing of the Indo-Bhutan Treaty at Darjeeling on August 8, 1949.
1956
The dragon turns white
For King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck's tour of eastern Bhutan in 1956, his Secretariat made new flags from a photograph of the 1949 original, with the dragon changed from green to white. A small flag rode on the saddle of every tenth pony in the royal convoy, and a large one was hoisted in camp each evening to the sound of a bugle.
1960s
Remade to flutter
The King, watching an Indian official's rectangular flag fly beside Bhutan's limp square one, asked his secretary Dasho Shingkhar Lam to redesign it. The flag took the 9 by 6 foot measure of India's; the dragon, which had lain horizontally, was laid along the diagonal so that it would never "face the earth" when the flag hung still; and Kilkhor Lopen Jada redrew it with a longer, gentler curve. The flag first flew abroad beside another nation's on the King's state visit to India in 1961.
1969
Orange, and the Rules
In 1968 or 1969 the King ordered the lower field changed from red to orange, and the flag reached the form it has kept since. On June 8, 1972, the National Assembly's Resolution 28 brought the National Flag Rules into effect — eight provisions fixing the design, its meanings, five standard sizes and the protocol of display. The Constitution of 2008 restated the flag and its meanings in its First Schedule.
Who designed the Bhutanese flag?
Mayum Choying Wangmo Dorji, in 1947 — a member of the Dorji family that served the throne as its chief ministers, and mother of Jigme Palden Dorji, Bhutan’s first prime minister, with whom she represented the kingdom at the Asian Relations Conference for which the flag was made. She designed it with the senior clergy of the Central Monastic Body, and the court painter Lharip Taw Taw embroidered it: yellow and red divided diagonally, a green dragon upon them.
The flag that flies today is Dasho Shingkhar Lam’s, the King’s secretary and later Speaker of the National Assembly, who reshaped it through the 1960s at the King’s request — the rectangle, the dragon on the diagonal, the orange — with the artist Kilkhor Lopen Jada drawing the Druk as it is now. A reproduction of the first flag hangs behind the throne in the National Assembly Hall in Thimphu.
Flag Day: December 17
The Rules of 1972 prescribe a single flag day, and it is National Day — December 17, the anniversary of the crowning of Ugyen Wangchuck as the first hereditary King of Bhutan at Punakha Dzong in 1907. The flag flies from every dzong and every government office, the King addresses the nation, and the day is kept with prayers, dances and archery across the twenty dzongkhags.
Legal status and display rules
The flag rests on the National Flag Rules, brought into effect by Resolution 28 of the National Assembly on June 8, 1972 — eight provisions on its description, meaning, sizes and protocol — and on the First Schedule of the Constitution of 2008, which restates them. The Rules are tabled here.
| Provision | The rule |
|---|---|
| The instrument | The National Flag Rules, brought into effect by Resolution 28 of the 36th session of the National Assembly on June 8, 1972 — eight provisions on the flag's description, meaning, sizes and protocol; restated in the Constitution of 2008 |
| Where it flies | Every dzongkhag headquarters hoists the flag; where there is no dzongkhag, it flies before the office of the chief government officer — a practice the King made standard in 1968 when his Secretariat moved to Tashichho Dzong |
| Residences and cars | Officials above the rank of minister may fly it at their residences away from the capital; the car flag of 9 by 6 inches is for the cars of those the Rules name |
| Precedence | No other flag is placed higher than the national flag |
| Respect | Never allowed to touch the ground; not used as a cover or drape — except on the coffins of ministers and high officials and of soldiers |
| Reproduction | The design is not to be included in other objects or used in a logo |
| Occasions | Flown on National Day, December 17 — the one flag day the Rules prescribe — and on the state occasions the government directs |
Half-mast and mourning
Mourning is declared by royal command, and the flag follows.
| Provision | The rule |
|---|---|
| When | In periods of national mourning declared by royal command — on the death of a member of the royal family or a friendly sovereign, or after a national tragedy |
| How | The flag is lowered to half-mast on the dzongs and government buildings for the days declared; prayer flags and butter lamps accompany it in Bhutanese custom |
Things you may not know
The flag rode to war on ponies. On the King’s tour of eastern Bhutan in 1956, a small flag was set on the saddle of every tenth pony in a convoy of more than a hundred, and a large one was hoisted in camp each evening to a bugle.
India’s flag decided the shape. The King, unhappy that his square flag hung limp beside a visiting official’s rectangular Indian one, ordered Bhutan’s remade on India’s exact measure — 9 feet by 6.
The dragon was moved so it would not look down. Laid horizontally, the Druk seemed to “face the earth” when the flag hung still; set on the diagonal, it climbs toward the fly in any wind or none.
Frequently asked questions
What does the flag of Bhutan look like?
A 2:3 field divided diagonally from the lower hoist corner to the upper fly corner — yellow above, orange below — with a white dragon, the Druk, laid along the line and facing the fly, a jewel in each of its four claws. It has flown in this form since 1969 and under the National Flag Rules since June 8, 1972.
What do the colors of the Bhutanese flag mean?
The Constitution states them: yellow is the civil tradition and temporal authority of the Druk Gyalpo, the Dragon King, whose royal scarf is yellow; orange is the Buddhist spiritual tradition of the Drukpa Kagyu and Nyingma schools. The dragon across the dividing line stands for the equal importance of the two, and for the bond between sovereign and people.
Why is there a dragon on the Bhutanese flag?
Because Bhutan is Druk Yul — the Land of the Thunder Dragon — named for the Druk of its mythology, whose voice is the thunder of the Himalayan storms, and for the Drukpa lineage of Buddhism that shaped the state. The dragon's white is the purity that unites Bhutan's peoples; its jewels are the country's wealth and security; its snarl is the guardian deities' defense of the land.
Who designed the Bhutanese flag?
Two people, twenty years apart. Mayum Choying Wangmo Dorji designed the first flag in 1947, with the senior clergy, for Bhutan's appearance at the Asian Relations Conference; Dasho Shingkhar Lam, the King's secretary, redesigned it in the 1960s into the flag flown today, with the artist Kilkhor Lopen Jada redrawing the dragon.
When was the Bhutanese flag adopted?
The first flag flew in 1949 at the signing of the Indo-Bhutan Treaty; the current form dates from 1969, when the lower field became orange; and the National Assembly gave it law on June 8, 1972, with the National Flag Rules. The Constitution of 2008 restated it in its First Schedule.
Why was the Bhutanese flag changed from square to rectangular?
So that it would fly. King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck saw an Indian official's rectangular flag flutter beside Bhutan's square one, which hung limp, and ordered the flag remade on India's 9 by 6 foot measure. The dragon was moved onto the diagonal at the same time, so that it would never appear to face the earth when the flag hung still.
What are the official colors of the Bhutanese flag?
Pantone 116 for the yellow and Pantone 165 for the orange, as the Flag Institute's specification records them; the Druk is white with black outlines. The usual values are #FFD520 for the yellow and #FF4E12 for the orange.
What are the rules for flying the Bhutanese flag?
The National Flag Rules of 1972: five standard sizes, from 21 by 14 feet down to a 9 by 6 inch car flag; every dzongkhag headquarters hoists the flag; no other flag is placed higher; it never touches the ground and is not used as a drape — except on the coffins of ministers, high officials and soldiers; and its design is not to be used in logos or other objects. Officials above the rank of minister may fly it at their residences away from the capital.
Does Bhutan have a flag day?
Yes — the one the Rules prescribe. National Day, December 17, the anniversary of the crowning of Ugyen Wangchuck as the first King of Bhutan at Punakha in 1907, is the flag's day, when it flies from every dzong and the King addresses the nation.
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