Who designed the national flag of Laos?

Maha Sila Viravong designed the national flag of Laos.

Viravong created the flag in 1945 for the Lao Issara movement, which sought an independent Laos. The design was selected by the Lao Issara government after the adoption of the first Lao constitution on 12 October 1945. It later became the flag of the Pathet Lao and was adopted as the national flag again when the monarchy ended in 1975.

The flag is a horizontal triband: red, blue, and red, with the blue stripe twice the height of each red stripe. A large white disk sits at the center. Viravong explained the disk as representing the unity of the Lao people; it is also popularly described as a full Moon over the Mekong River.

The answer is sometimes confused with Souphanouvong or Kaysone Phomvihane, prominent leaders associated with the Pathet Lao and the later Lao state. They were important political figures, but the credited designer of the flag is Maha Sila Viravong, a scholar of Lao literature, history, and culture.