Flags With a Circle

What does a circle mean on a flag?

A solid disc usually stands for the sun, the moon or the nation as a whole. Japan's red disc, the Nisshoki, represents the sun, and Japanese tradition links the imperial family to the sun goddess. Bangladesh has a red disc on a dark green field. The red stands for the rising sun and the blood of the independence struggle, and the green for the land. The disc is placed slightly toward the hoist so it looks centered when the flag flies.

Palau is the main exception: its yellow disc is a full moon, not a sun, on a light blue field that stands for the ocean. It is also offset toward the hoist.

Notable flags with a circle

• South Korea: a red and blue taegeuk circle surrounded by four black trigrams.
• India: a blue 24-spoke Ashoka Chakra in the white stripe.
• Laos: a white disc on a blue band between two red bands. It stands for the moon over the Mekong River.
• Niger: an orange disc in the white stripe, standing for the sun.
• Brazil: a blue globe with stars and a white band reading "Ordem e Progresso".
• Ethiopia: a blue disc with a yellow pentagram and rays.
• Burundi: a white disc with three red stars over a white saltire.
• Tunisia: a white disc with a red crescent and star.
• North Korea: a red star within a white disc.
• Uganda: a white disc with a grey crowned crane.
• Dominica: a red disc with a Sisserou parrot at the center of a cross.
• Kyrgyzstan: a yellow sun with a tunduk, the crown of a yurt.

Rings and roundels

Some flags show a ring of stars instead of a solid disc. Cape Verde has a ring of ten yellow stars, and the Cook Islands have a ring of fifteen stars. Belize puts its coat of arms in a white disc between two red stripes, and Greenland uses a red and white circle, a sun above the horizon, on a white and red flag.

Historical flags with a circle

Bangladesh's first flag, used in 1971 during the Liberation War, had a yellow map of the country inside the red disc. The map was removed in 1972 to make the flag easier to produce.