Mongolia’s flag is a vertical tricolour of red, blue, red, with the golden Soyombo emblem at the hoist. The current form was affirmed in 1992 when the socialist star above the Soyombo was removed. Blue signifies the eternal sky; red strength and progress. The Soyombo encodes fire, sun, moon, earth, water, and the yin‑yang‑like taijitu. Statutes set a 1:2 ratio, precise Soyombo artwork, placement, colour standards, and protocol for display, half‑masting, and dignified retirement.
Mongolia’s national flag—red, blue, red with the Soyombo emblazoned at the hoist—expresses steppe cosmology and the state’s modern constitutional identity. The present form dates to 1992 when the five‑pointed socialist star formerly surmounting the emblem was removed following democratic reforms; the underlying tricolour and the Soyombo’s core elements continue a line first entrenched in the twentieth century.
Tricolour and Eternal Sky The vertical tricolour comprises two red bands flanking a central blue band. Blue evokes the “Eternal Blue Sky” (Tenger), a foundational concept in Mongolian worldview and statecraft; red denotes strength, vitality, and progress. The arrangement provides strong contrast at distance and on horseback standards, banners, and mastheads.
The Soyombo Emblem At the hoist appears the golden Soyombo, a stacked ideographic emblem created by Zanabazar in the seventeenth century. From top to bottom it features stylised flame (the nation’s flourishing across generations), sun and crescent moon (eternity), triangles (defence against enemies), rectangles (honesty and justice), the taijitu‑like symbol (complementarity and balance), and vertical bars (resilience and unity). The state standard provides exact linework, stroke weight, and spacing to ensure faithful reproduction on cloth, print, and digital media.
1992 Reform and Legal Specification With the 1992 Constitution, the socialist star above the Soyombo was removed. Law fixes the flag’s ratio at 1:2, positions the Soyombo within the hoist band at defined offsets, and codifies Pantone/CMYK references for the red, blue, and gold. Procurement rules require licensed artwork; ministries and schools receive vector templates to prevent drift in geometry.
Protocol
and Usage Regulations govern respectful handling, precedence with foreign flags, half‑masting during mourning by decree, and dignified retirement of worn flags. Military colours and presidential standards adapt the Soyombo within shields or wreaths while preserving the base tricolour. Diplomatic missions fly the flag externally and in protocol halls according to international practice.
Continuity
and Public Meaning The flag is central to State Flag Day and Naadam festivities, on which large banners are carried into stadia and across public squares. In sport and international fora, the tricolour and Soyombo visually anchor Mongolia’s identity between Russia and China, communicating a synthesis of historical cosmology and civic republicanism.