Nepal's Flag: The World's Only Non-Rectangular National Flag — Two Triangles, One Nation

Correction: Nepal's flag is not a single triangle — it's the only national flag composed of two stacked triangles (pennants).

Design

• Shape: Two crimson pennants, one above the other, with blue border
• Upper pennant: White moon (crescent + 8 rays) — calm, royal house
• Lower pennant: White sun (12 rays) — fierce resolve, Rana/prime ministerial line
• Ratio: Height = width (unique); mathematically defined in constitution

Symbolism

• Crimson: Bravery, rhododendron (national flower), blood of heroes
• Blue border: Peace, harmony
• Moon + Sun: Permanence — "As long as sun and moon exist, Nepal endures"
• Two pennants: Himalaya mountains (peaks); also = Hindu + Buddhist traditions

History

• Triangular flags = traditional South Asian dhwaja (pennants) for royalty/temples
• Unified by Prithvi Narayan Shah (1768) — two pennants = two dynasties (Shah + Rana) merged
• Constitutionalized 1962, 1990, 2015 — exact geometry specified

Why Not Rectangular?

Nepal never colonized — no European vexillological imposition. Kept its indigenous flag form. The world's other 192+ UN members adopted rectangles (mostly 2:3 or 3:5) via colonial/naval standardization.

Nepal's flag is a geometric declaration of sovereignty — two peaks, one nation, eternal as the Himalayas.