Flag of South Korea

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South Korea
Flag of South Korea.svg
Name Taegeukgi
태극기
Use National flag and ensign
Proportion 2:3
Adopted March 6, 1883 (Original version)
July 12, 1948 (Current version)
Flag of South Korea
Hangul 태극기
Hanja
Revised Romanization Taegeukgi
McCune–Reischauer T'aegŭkki

The flag of South Korea, or Taegeukgi (also spelled Taegukgi in convention) has three parts: a white background; a red and blue taegeuk (also known as Taiji and Yinyang) in the center; and four black trigrams, one in each corner of the flag. These trigrams are carried over from the eight trigrams (Ba gua), which are of Daoist origin. Taiji, Trigrams and Taoism are parts of the Korean Culture which originated in China.

Contents

Design

The white background symbolizes "cleanliness of the people". The Taegeuk represents the origin of all things in the universe; holding the two principles of yin and yang in perfect balance; the former being the negative aspect rendered in blue, and the latter as the positive aspect rendered in red. Together, they represent a continuous movement within infinity, the two merging as one.

The four trigrams are described in this table:

Name in Korean Nature Seasons Cardinal directions Four virtues Family Four elements Meanings
Palgwae Geon.svg geon
(건 / )
sky
(천 / )
spring
(춘 / )
east
(동 / )
humanity
(인 / )
father
(부 / )
heaven
(천 / )
justice
(정의 / 正義)
Palgwae Ri.svg ri
(리 / )
sun
(일 / )
autumn
(추 / )
south
(남 / )
justice
(의 / )
daughter
(녀 / )
fire
(화 / )
fruition
(결실 / 結實)
Palgwae Gam.svg gam
(감 / )
moon
(월 / )
winter
(동 / )
north
(북 / )
intelligence
(지 / )
son
(자 / )
water
(수 / )
wisdom
(지혜 / 智慧)
Palgwae Gon.svg gon
(곤 / )
earth
(지 / )
summer
(하 / )
west
(서 / 西)
courtesy
(예 / )
mother
(모 / )
earth
(토 / )
vitality
(생명력 / 生命力)

History

Left: "Flag of Korea" in the Japanese newspaper "Jiji Shimpo" published on 2 October 1882. Center: "Empire of the Great Qing's tributary state: Flag of Goryeo" listed in the Qing diplomatic book Tōngshāng Zhāngchéng Chéng'àn Huìbiān (通商章程成案彙編), edited by Li Hongzhang, in March 1883. Right: "Figure of Taijitu Ba gua" a collection of the Seoul University's Kyujanggak.123
Design used in the past, but now abandoned The earliest surviving depiction of the flag was printed in a U.S. Navy book Flags of Maritime Nations in July 1882.4

The flag was designed by King Gojong5 or Pak Yeong-hyo6 in 1882 by the deletion of four of these trigrams, and Taegeukgi was adopted as the national flag of Joseon Dynasty on March 6, 1883.

After independence, both North and South Korea adopted versions of the Taegeukgi, but North Korea changed its national flag to a more Soviet-inspired design after three years (see article Flag of North Korea).7

The Constituent Assembly of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) adopted the Taegeukgi as the national flag on July 12, 1948. After the establishment of the government of the Republic of Korea, "The Rules for the Flag of the Republic of Korea" were first enacted.

Specifications

Dimensions

Flag construction sheet

Colors

Flag of South Korea

The colors of Taegukgi are specified on the "Ordinance Act of the Law concerning the National Flag of the Republic of Korea (대한민국국기법시행령).89 There was no specification for shade of colors until 1997, when South Korean government decided to provide standard specification for the flag. On October, 1997, Presidential ordinance on the standard specification of the flag of the Republic of Korea was promulgated,10 and that specification was acceded by the National Flag Law in 2007.

The colors are defined in legislation by the Munsell and CIE color systems:

Scheme Munsell11 CIE (x, y, Y)11 Pantone12 Hex triplet13
White N 9.5 N/A N/A #FFFFFF
Red 6.0R 4.5/14 0.5640, 0.3194, 15.3 186 Coated #C60C30
Blue 5.0PB 3.0/12 0.1556, 0.1354, 6.5 294 Coated #003478
Black N 0.5 N/A N/A #000000

Early Taegeukgi

See also

References

  1. ^ "Oldest Flags Pictures found" (in Korean). chosun.com. 2004.01.26. 
  2. ^ "Discovery of Old Flag Discredits 'Taegukgi' Legend". chosun.com. 26, January 2004. 
  3. ^ "Discovery of Old Flag Discredits 'Taegukgi' Legend". chosun.com. 26, January 2004.  Editor's note: The captions of images are wrong and should be interchanged each other.
  4. ^ United States. Navy Dept. Bureau of Navigation (1882). Flags of maritime nations: from the most authentic sources. Bureau of Navigation. p. 16. 
  5. ^ Taegeukgi, Naver Encyclopedia
  6. ^ Korea Observer (Academy of Korean Studies) 27: 322. 1996. ISSN 0023-3919. 
  7. ^ History of the South Korean flag at FOTW.
  8. ^ 대한민국국기법시행령 (Ordinance Act of the Law concerning the National Flag of the Republic of Korea), Article 6–9.
  9. ^ 대한민국국기법시행령 별표2 (Ordinance Act of the Law concerning the National Flag of the Republic of Korea, Table 2)
  10. ^ Standard specification of Tagukgi
  11. ^ a b "깃면" [Geometry of the National Flag] (in Korean). Ministry of Public Administration and Security. 2009. Retrieved 2010-02-16. 
  12. ^ [1]dead link
  13. ^ edigita. "eDigita Web Design - Pantone to Hex Color Conversion". Edigita.com. Retrieved 2012-12-19. 

External links