National Flag of the State of Mongolia (1992)

The landlocked State of Mongolia, formerly the Mongolian People’s Republic (1924-91), is situated in East Asia bordered by Russia in the north and China in the south, east and west. 

The Mongolian People’s Republic introduced the basic design of the vertically divided tricolour in 1940.

Although technically an independent country since the early 20th century, Mongolia maintained close political ties and modelled its single party political system on the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), up until the Soviet Union’s collapse in the early 1990s.

In 1990, the foundation for a multiparty political system was initiated and in 1991 the Mongolian People’s Republic was renamed the State of Mongolia.

A new constitution was adopted in January 1992, which led to a modification of the national flag on the 12th of February 1992. 

The five-pointed yellow star that had crested the soyonbo (the name for the gold symbol featured at the hoist) was removed. 

The star had previously symbolised the socialist leaning of the former government.

The Symbolic Meaning

Blue is a traditional colour of the Mongols and symbolises the blue skies above the nation. The two vertical red panels initially represented Mongolia’s earlier socialist beliefs, but a more modern interpretation has them symbolising liberty and progress. 

Featured at the hoist of the flag is an ancient Buddhist symbol called the soyonbo; it is a national emblem of Mongolia and contains individual symbolism within it.

The fire at the top of the soyonbo symbolises prosperity, contentment and regeneration. The three individual flames represent the past, present and future.

The sun and new moon symbolise the universe and are believed by Mongolians to be the mother (sun) and father (moon) of their nation.

The triangles aimed towards the ground are arrowheads and connote Mongolia’s willingness to defend its freedom against its enemies.

The horizontal rectangles symbolise honesty, justice and righteousness. 

The middle circle can be interpreted two ways, it can be seen as the Buddhist yin and yang symbol, which represents the philosophy of dualism; the complementary opposite forces existing together harmoniously in the universe: positive and negative, male and female, passive and active, fire and water and so on. 

It is also interpreted as two fish, never closing their eyes, symbolising the watchfulness and vigilance of the men and women of Mongolia.

The vertical rectangles represent pillars and connote strength, resolve and hardness.