Embassy of the Republic of Korea to Norway

​Do You Know What Is Depicted on a Flag of the Republic of Korea?

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​Artur Tron

Among all countries of the World, the national flag of the Republic of Korea has very unique designs which have significant symbolic meanings (as shown in Picture 1). The flag’s name is Taegeukgi (태극기) which has four colors: white, black, red and blue. Let’s break down all of the symbols: the white background of Taegeukgi symbolizes light and purity and reflects the Korean people’s traditional affinity for peace. Next, the circle in the middle, divided equally into a blue portion below and a red portion above, represents the dual cosmic forces of Yin (blue) and Yang (red). It symbolizes universal harmony, in which the negative (or passive) and the positive (or active) form the whole. The four black trigrams, Geon, Gon, Gam, and Ri (건, 곤, 감, 리), are specific representations of the movement and harmony of these forces. In detail, the Geon symbolizes – the sky, the Gon – the Earth, the Gam – water, and the Ri – fire. All components of the trigrams represent harmony and movement that is very important for daily life. In short, the Taegeukgi flag embodies the vision of the Korean people who, like the universe, seek continuous creation, enrichment, and harmony.

Now, a little bit about the history of the Korean national flag.

Following the trend for modern states to adopt national flags, the decision to create a national flag for Korea emerged with the ratification of the Korea-United States Treaty of 1882. No accurate records remain of the Korean flag chosen for use at the signing ceremony. Afterward, in his capacity as Envoy Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary under King Gojong, Park Yeong-hyo, according to his journal, created a four-trigram flag with a taegeuk circle (instead of the flag with eight black bars that had been used prior to 1800). The flag was used from September 25, 1882. By royal order on March 6, 1883, King Gojong promulgated that Park’s flag with a taegeuk circle in the center and four trigrams around it (the flag named Taegeukgi) be the national flag.

However, due to a lack of specific guidelines, the flag design took different forms. On June 29, 1942, the Provisional Government issued a national flag style guide to ensure that subsequent flags would be created in a consistent manner. Despite these efforts, however, ordinary people were unaware of these guidelines. After the establishment of the Republic of Korea on August 15, 1948, the government felt an increasing need to standardize flag construction. Thus in January 1949, it formed the National Flag Correction Committee, which announced the National Flag Construction Guidelines on October 15 of that year. A number of regulations were later implemented, providing the systematic management of the flag.

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