---
title: "Flag of Bhutan: colours and meaning"
description: "What every colour and symbol on the Bhutan flag stands for, its official 2:3 ratio, and the year the current design was adopted. Plus the flags it gets mistaken for."
url: https://atoneplace.net/flag/bhutan/
site: "At One Place"
---

# The flag of Bhutan

**The flag of Bhutan: A field divided diagonally from the lower hoist to the upper fly, yellow above and orange below, with a large white dragon holding jewels straddling the divide.**

Ratio 2:3 · current design adopted 1969

The dragon faces away from the hoist, so on the reverse of the flag it appears to face the other way — one of the few flags where the emblem is not mirrored but genuinely oriented. Thunder in the Himalaya was traditionally explained as the voice of dragons, which is where the country's name comes from. The flag was standardised in 1969 after earlier versions in which the dragon faced upward and the colours were reversed. Its diagonal division is shared with almost no other national flag.

## What the colours mean

*Flag laws usually specify a Pantone chip, a CMYK mix or just a colour name. Converting any of those to sRGB is lossy, which is why published hex values disagree.*

- **Yellow** (#FFD520) — The secular authority of the king
- **Orange** (#FF4E12) — The Buddhist religious tradition
- **White** (#FFFFFF) — The dragon; purity and the loyalty of the peoples

## The symbols on it

| What | What it stands for |
| --- | --- |
| Druk, the Thunder Dragon | The country's own name for itself, Druk Yul, the Land of the Thunder Dragon |
| Jewels in its claws | The wealth and security of the nation |
| The dragon's snarling mouth | The strength of the deities protecting Bhutan |

- **Ratio:** 2:3
- **Current design adopted:** 1969
- **Colours:** yellow, orange, white

## Common questions

### What does the flag of Bhutan look like?

A field divided diagonally from the lower hoist to the upper fly, yellow above and orange below, with a large white dragon holding jewels straddling the divide.

### What do the colours of the Bhutan flag mean?

Yellow: the secular authority of the king. Orange: the Buddhist religious tradition. White: the dragon; purity and the loyalty of the peoples.

### When was the Bhutan flag adopted?

The current design dates from 1969, and its official ratio is 2:3.

## Related pages

- [Bhutan](https://atoneplace.net/country/bhutan/)
- [Every flag with yellow in it](https://atoneplace.net/flag/colour/yellow/)
- [The flag of China](https://atoneplace.net/flag/china/)
- [The flag of Brazil](https://atoneplace.net/flag/brazil/)
- [The flag of Spain](https://atoneplace.net/flag/spain/)
- [The flag of Ukraine](https://atoneplace.net/flag/ukraine/)
- [The flag of Colombia](https://atoneplace.net/flag/colombia/)
- [The flag of Romania](https://atoneplace.net/flag/romania/)
- [The flag of Sweden](https://atoneplace.net/flag/sweden/)
- [The flag of Vietnam](https://atoneplace.net/flag/vietnam/)

## Sources

- The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency (https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/) [Public domain (US Government)]