The Kingdom of Cambodia

The National Flag of Cambodia

The current flag was re-adopted in 1993, when the nation finally voted to return to a constitutional monarchy system of government. The current flag features a red central stripe, and 2 border stripes running horizontally. At the centre is a depiction of Ankor Wat. This image has been in use in some form or another since the 1850's.

However, during Cambodia's time under French control as part of French Indo-China, it used a similar flag, but this time, the blue border stripes ran all round the flag.

However, the French briefly lost control to the Japanese during the Second World War, and during that time, the puppet government used a simple red flag, with a white square in the centre. This saw the creation of an "independent" State of Kampuchea.

Once the war finished, the French regained control of Cambodia, and finally ceded independence in 1953, which saw the re-birth of the Kingdom of Cambodia, and a return to the red striped flag.

However, in 1970, a military coup replaced the king with a republic, and a new flag. This time, a red square bearing the image of Ankor Wat was placed in the top hoist canton, and 3 white stars along the top.

The Republic was short-lived, because in 1975 the Khmer Rouge defeated the Republican forces, placing Pol Pot at the heart of the new Democratic Kampuchea. This flag, following along with its communist neighbours, Vietnam and China, saw a simple red flag enter use. However, they did not use a star, but placed a simplified gold image of Ankor Wat in the middle.

Finally, Communist Vietnam marched into Cambodia in 1979 and overthrew the Khmer Rouge government. The Khmer Rouge had engaged in systematic massacres of ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia. A new government was formed, and the nation renamed as the Peoples Republic of Kampuchea. Despite international isolation (China acted to block it at the UN), a loss of its middle classes due to Khmer Rouge purges, and the view it was just a puppet for Vietnam, the PRK did manage to rebuild a shattered nation. They kept with the simple red flag, but used a more accurate depiction of Ankor Wat on the flag.

In 1989, the Peoples Republic of Kampuchea tried to gain more international support by renaming itself as the State of Cambodia. However, its single party system of government remained, and not much really changed. The flag did however, go through a minor alteration. No longer was the flag a simple red, but it was now halved. With the bottom half seeing a return of blue.

Another change to the flag was a replacement of the simple pictogram of Ankor Wat, with a much more accurate image, again in gold.

However, by the end of the 1980's, the nation was ruined. The State of Cambodia had no money, and had been fighting Khmer Rouge forces ever since the Khmer Rouge had been removed from power. The nation effectively collapsed. The United Nations set up UNTAC which moved in, and took over the running of the country. Whilst preparations where made for universal elections, a new flag was brought in. Using UN colours of sky blue and white, it featured a map of Cambodia in the centre, with the nations name written in.

Finally, in 1993, the Cambodians voted for the return of a constitutional monarchy, and they saw the return of the original Cambodian flag, with the red striped flag with blue borders. Since then, Cambodia has enjoyed well over a decade of peace as they try to rebuild.