The prominent motif on the North Korean flag is a red star, which is a universal symbol of communism and socialism, although since the flag's adoption, the application of Juche philosophy of a Marxist-Leninist nature has superseded the communist authority as the leading ideology of the state, and references to communism have been systematically removed from the country's constitution and legal documents. However, the constitution is still said to be socialist in nature. Despite the many changes in the constitution, the description of the flag has always been the same.

According to a typical North Korean official text published in the Rodong Sinmun newspaper, Kim Il-sung gave the following meaning to the elements of the flag:

The red of the flag symbolizes anti-Japanese sentiment, and is the color of the blood shed by Korean patriots and the invincible power of our people firmly united to support the Republic. White symbolizes a bloodline, a land, a language, a culture of our mono-ethnic country, which lived in purity. And blue represents the gallant face of our people and symbolizes the spirit of the Korean people fighting for world peace and progress.