Flags from Bhutan

Although Bhutan was always an independent country, it did not have a national flag until 1947, when Mayum Choying Wangmo Dorji made a design that was first displayed on 8 August 1949 at the signing of the Indo-Bhutan Friendship Treaty. It featured a green Chinese dragon (Druk in Dzongkha, the Bhutanese language) from Bhutanese mythology on a diagonally divided yellow and red field facing the hoist side. The design was not standardised, and a flag with a differently styled green dragon was observed, probably in 1953. Also, how the flag was divided into the yellow and red fields could vary.

In 1956, the king, Druk Gyalpo Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, visited eastern Bhutan. A new version of the flag was introduced, based upon photos of its 1949 predecessor, but now featuring a white Druk (dragon) instead of green. It was holding four jewels in its claws and facing away from the hoist. Later, the flag’s aspect ratio (height to width) of 4:5 was changed to 2:3, equal to that of India’s flag, as it had been observed to flutter better with those measurements.

In 1969, Bhutan’s flag was standardised. It has an aspect ratio of 2:3 and is divided diagonally from the lower hoist corner, with the upper triangle yellow and the lower triangle orange. Centred along the dividing line is a large black and white “Druk” (dragon) holding a Norbu, or jewel, in each claw and facing away from the hoist side. It alludes to the Dzongkha name of Bhutan – Drukyul (Dragon Country) and the Drukpa Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, Bhutan’s dominant religion.

A National Emblem and a separate emblem for the “Tshogdu”, the National Emblem, was also adopted. It was designed by a Mongolian artist and commissioned by Ashi Tashi Dorji, the sister of the Queen Grandmother. The circular emblem displays a double “Dorji”, the diamond-thunderbolt, representing harmony between secular and religious power, above a lotus, surmounted by a jewel and framed by two dragons. The lotus symbolises purity, and the jewel expresses sovereign power. The two male and female dragons, “Druk”, stand for “Drukyul”, the name of the country, which they proclaim with their great voice, the thunder.