Kim Jong Un makes significant change to North Korea's national flag in latest move to reshape country

North Korea's flag has changed for the first time in its history, after remaining unchanged for 78 years since the country's founding.

Although a relatively minor change, the flag's height-to-width ratio has been altered from 1:2 to 1:1.65, making it slightly less elongated, as per The Korea Herald. The colours and overall design remain unchanged, however, in the new flag, the star can be seen closer to the center due to the shorter width.

The change was officially approved on March 23, 2026, under Article 166 of the revised constitution, however, was only confirmed when North Korea published the updated document on its Naenara website on Tuesday.

As of the time of writing, North Korea has not given a reason for this change. However, Fyodor Tertitskiy, a lecturer at Korea University in Seoul tells the Wall Street Journal that the changes are 'another symbolic breakaway from the past' for leader, Kim Jong Un.

The change to the flag was reportedly approved in March (Photo by Pedro PARDO / AFP via Getty Images)

The original flag was designed with Soviet influence, but North Korean propaganda later credited Kim's grandfather and the country's founder, Kim Il Sung, with its design. In the early years of his leadership, after taking power in 2011, Kim Jong Un appeared to model himself on his grandfather, adopting a similar hairstyle, gaining weight and wearing Mao-style suits.

However, in recent years, he has increasingly sought to establish his own identity, and has made a number of changes such as removing references to the Korean Peninsula from the national anthem in 2024.

News of Kim Jong Un's reported change to the flag comes just weeks after a number of false rumors about the leader's death circulated the internet.

Kim Jong Un has been the leader of North Korea since 2011 (Photo by CCTV+/VCG via Getty Images)

To debunk the rumors that the 42-year-old had passed away, state media posted photographs of Kim with his wife, Ri Sol Ju, and daughter, Kim Ju Ae, on October 19 to prove that he was alive and well.

Unconfirmed reports suggested that the leader had suffered a fatal brain hemorrhage, which have since been proved false as he visited a clothing and footwear exhibition in Pyongyang following the rumors.

The photos released by Korean Central News Agency saw Jong Un taking a keen interest in the exhibition, while organizers explained to the supreme leader what was going on.

Since then, the leader also made his first visit to China in a year, where he inaugurated a new bridge that connects the country to North Korea.