---
title: "Flag of Nepal: colours and meaning"
description: "What every colour and symbol on the Nepal flag stands for, when the current design was adopted, and which flags it gets mistaken for."
url: https://atoneplace.net/flag/nepal/
site: "At One Place"
---

# The flag of Nepal

**The flag of Nepal: Two stacked crimson pennants with blue borders, the upper bearing a white crescent moon and the lower a white twelve-pointed sun. The only national flag that is not a rectangle.**

Ratio Non-rectangular; the constitution gives a geometric construction, and the resulting height is about 1.22 times the width · current design adopted 1962

*[Flag drawn on the page: Nepal]*

It is the only non-rectangular national flag in the world, and the shape comes from combining two separate pennants that were flown together for centuries. The 1962 constitution does not state a ratio at all; Schedule 1 gives 24 numbered construction steps, starting from a baseline and building the whole flag with straightedge and compass, which makes it the only flag whose legal definition is a geometry exercise. Before 1962 the emblems had human faces, which were removed for modernisation. The diagonal edge means Nepal cannot be shown in a standard flag grid without either distortion or white space, and international bodies handle it inconsistently.

## 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.*

- **Crimson** (#DC143C) — The rhododendron, the national flower, and the bravery of the people
- **Blue** (#003893) — Peace, in the border
- **White** (#FFFFFF) — The sun and moon emblems

## The symbols on it

| What | What it stands for |
| --- | --- |
| Moon | The royal house; also the cool weather of the Himalaya |
| Sun | The Rana prime ministers; also the heat of the lowlands |
| The pair together | A wish that Nepal endure as long as the sun and moon |

- **Ratio:** Non-rectangular; the constitution gives a geometric construction, and the resulting height is about 1.22 times the width
- **Current design adopted:** 1962
- **Colours:** crimson, blue, white

## Common questions

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

Two stacked crimson pennants with blue borders, the upper bearing a white crescent moon and the lower a white twelve-pointed sun. The only national flag that is not a rectangle.

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

Crimson: the rhododendron, the national flower, and the bravery of the people. Blue: peace, in the border. White: the sun and moon emblems.

### When was the Nepal flag adopted?

The current design dates from 1962, and its official ratio is Non-rectangular; the constitution gives a geometric construction, and the resulting height is about 1.22 times the width.

## Related pages

- [Nepal](https://atoneplace.net/country/nepal/)
- [Every flag with crimson in it](https://atoneplace.net/flag/colour/crimson/)
- [The flag of Japan](https://atoneplace.net/flag/japan/)
- [The flag of Sri Lanka](https://atoneplace.net/flag/sri-lanka/)
- [The flag of Latvia](https://atoneplace.net/flag/latvia/)
- [The flag of Eswatini](https://atoneplace.net/flag/eswatini/)

## Sources

- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place (/about/)