Proven Mysteries
All case files

The National Flag That Isn't a Rectangle

Nepal's flag is two stacked triangles, and its constitution explains how to draw it in 24 geometric steps.

Strange countriesKathmandu, Nepal2015

The national flag of Nepal: two pennant shapes, crimson with a deep blue border.
The national flag of Nepal: two pennant shapes, crimson with a deep blue border. Pumbaa80, Achim1999 (drawn from the constitution), Public domain

Almost every national flag is a rectangle. Nepal's is not: it is made of two triangular pennants, one stacked on top of the other.

Article 8 of Nepal's 2015 constitution describes it as two juxtaposed triangular figures with a crimson base and deep blue borders, with a white crescent moon showing eight of its sixteen rays in the upper part, and a white twelve-rayed sun in the lower part.

The constitution goes further. Schedule 1 sets out how to draw the flag in 24 numbered geometric steps. The first reads: on the lower portion of a crimson cloth, draw a line AB of the required length from left to right.

Because the shape is fixed by geometry rather than by a simple width-to-height ratio, anyone with a ruler and compass can draw it exactly.

Evidence

  • Article 8(1) of the Constitution of Nepal (2015) describes the flag.
  • Schedule 1 gives the construction in four parts (the shape, the moon, the sun and the border) and 24 numbered steps.
  • Britannica describes it as a nonrectangular national flag made of two united pennant shapes.

Verdict

CONFIRMED

Backed by strong, verifiable evidence.

Confirmed. The shape and the way to draw it are written into the constitution itself.

Sources

Image credits

  • Flag of Nepal.svg. Pumbaa80, Achim1999 (drawn from the constitution), Public domain

Published 2026-10-25. Spotted an error? Email provenmysteries@gmail.com.

More case files