Asia

Flag of Laos

Laos is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia and one of the world's few remaining single-party communist states. During the Vietnam War era, Laos was the most heavily bombed country per capita in history, with over 2 million tonnes of ordnance dropped between 1964 and 1973. Despite this history, modern Laos is known for its Buddhist temple culture, the Mekong River, and the charming UNESCO-listed ancient capital Luang Prabang.

CapitalVientiane
RegionAsia
Current flag since1975
Main coloursRed, Blue, White
Populationabout 7.5 million
Areaabout 237,000 km²
GeographyLandlocked
Flags in history6

Population and area are rounded.

What the flag of Laos means

The red stripes stand for the blood shed in the struggle for independence, the blue for the country's wealth, and the white disc for the full moon over the Mekong River and the unity of the people. First used by the Lao Issara movement in 1945, it became the national flag in 1975 when the monarchy was abolished. It is unusual among communist states' flags in having no star.

How to recognise it

Horizontal red-blue-red with a white circle in the blue centre stripe.

Did you know?

Laos is the most bombed country per capita in history — the US dropped more bombs there than in all of WWII.

Easily confused with

Laos' flag is often mixed up with these. Learn to tell them apart:

Cambodia

Thailand

Flag history of Laos

Every flag that has flown over Laos, from today back through time.

1975–present

Lao PDR (Pathet Lao flag)

A red-blue-red triband with a white disc, adopted nationally in 1975. The disc symbolizes a full moon over the Mekong and national unity.

1952–1975

Kingdom of Laos

A red field with a white three-headed elephant on a pedestal beneath a parasol — the three heads for the former kingdoms of the "Land of a Million Elephants."

1893–1953

French Laos (Indochina)

France absorbed the Lao kingdoms into French Indochina in 1893, reuniting the fragments of the old Lan Xang ("Land of a Million Elephants") under a protectorate flying the French flag. Apart from a Japanese-occupied interlude in WWII, French rule lasted until full independence in 1953 — and the three-headed elephant of the restored kingdom recalled the unity Lan Xang once had.

1945–1946

Lao Issara

The 'Free Lao' provisional government that briefly declared independence before the French returned.

1713–1904

Kingdom of Champasak

The southernmost of the successor kingdoms of Lan Xang, later a principality under French Laos.

1707–1828

Kingdom of Vientiane

One of the three Lao kingdoms that emerged from the breakup of Lan Xang, destroyed by Siam.

Related historical states

Empires, kingdoms and republics that once covered part of Laos.

1713–1947

Kingdom of Champasak

A blue flag with a white multi-tiered parasol, flown by one of the three Lao kingdoms before they were merged into modern Laos.

1707–1893

Kingdom of Luang Prabang

The royal Lao kingdom flew a red flag with the three-headed white elephant Erawan beneath a parasol — the same elephant later used by the Kingdom of Laos.

1947–1975

Kingdom of Laos

The royal kingdom flew a red flag with a white three-headed elephant beneath a parasol, the sacred Erawan, until the communist Pathet Lao abolished the monarchy in 1975.