Flag of South Korea
The flag of South Korea, also known as the Taegukgi, has three parts: a white rectangular background, a red and blue Taegeuk in its center, and four black trigrams one toward each corner. The first pattern of Taegukgi was made by Kojong. Flags similar to the current Taegeukgi were used as the national flags of Korea by the Joseon dynasty, the Korean Empire, and by the Korean exile government during Japanese rule. It has continued to be used as a national flag even after the establishment of the South Korean state on August 15, 1948.
Symbolism
The flag's field is white, a traditional color in Korean culture. White was common in the daily attire of 19th-century Koreans, and it still appears in contemporary versions of traditional Korean garments, such as the hanbok. The color represents peace and purity.The circle in the centre represents balance in the universe. The red half represents positive cosmic forces, and the blue half represents the opposing negative cosmic forces.
Together, the trigrams represent movement and harmony as fundamental principles. Each trigram represents one of the four classical elements, as described below:
| Trigram | Korean name | Celestial body | Season | Cardinal direction | Virtue | Family | Natural element | Meaning |
| ☰ | geon | heaven | spring | east | humanity | father | heaven | justice |
| ☲ | ri | sun | autumn | south | righteousness | daughter | fire | fruition |
| ☵ | gam | moon | winter | north | intelligence | son | water | wisdom |
| ☷ | gon | earth | summer | west | courtesy | mother | earth | vitality |
History
Background
In 1876, the absence of a national flag became an issue for Korea, at the time reigned over by the Joseon dynasty. Before 1876, Korea did not have a national flag, nor did it particularly see the need for one. The lack of a national flag became a quandary during negotiations for the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876, at which the delegate of Japan displayed the Japanese national flag, whereas the Joseon dynasty had no corresponding national symbol to exhibit. At that time, some proposed to create a national flag, but the Korean government looked upon the matter as unimportant and unnecessary. By 1880, the proliferation of foreign negotiations led to the need for a national flag. The most popular proposal was described in the "Korea Strategy" papers, written by the Chinese delegate Huang Zunxian. It proffered to incorporate the flag of the Qing dynasty of China into that of the Joseon dynasty of Korea. In response to the Chinese proposal, the Korean government dispatched delegate Lee Young-Sook to consider the scheme with Chinese statesman and diplomat Li Hongzhang. Li agreed with some elements of Huang's suggestion while accepting that Korea would make some alterations. The Qing government assented to Li's conclusions, but the degree of enthusiasm with which the Joseon government explored this proposal is unknown.The issue remained unpursued for a period, re-emerging with the negotiation of the United States–Korea Treaty of 1882, also known as the Shufeldt Treaty. The controversy arose after the delegate Lee Eung-Jun presented a flag similar to the flag of Japan to the Chinese official Ma Jianzhong. In response to the discussion, Ma Jianzhong argued against the proposed idea of using the flag of the Qing dynasty and proposed a flag with a white background, with a half-red and half-black circle in the center, with eight black bars around the flag. On August 22, 1882, Park Yeong-hyo created a scale model of the Taegukgi to the Joseon government. Park Yeong-hyo became the first person to use the Taegukgi in the Empire of Japan in 1882. On January 27, 1883, the Joseon government officially promulgated Taegukgi to be used as the official national flag.
In 1919, a flag similar to the current South Korean flag was used by the provisional Korean government-in-exile based in China.
After the restoration of Korean independence in 1945, the Taegukgi remained in use after the southern portion of Korea became a democratic republic under the influence of the United States but also used by the People's Republic of Korea. At the same time, the flag of the United States was also used by the United States Army Military Government in Korea along with the Taegukgi. Following the establishment of the South Korean state in August 1948, the current flag was declared official by the government of South Korea on October 15, 1949, although it had been used as the de facto national flag before then.
In February 1984, the exact dimensional specifications of the flag were codified. In October 1997, the exact colours of the flag were specified via presidential decree for the first time.
Cultural role in contemporary South Korean society
The name of the South Korean flag is used in the title of a 2004 South Korean film about the Korean War, Tae Guk Gi.Observers such as The Times Literary Supplements Colin Marshall and Korea scholar Brian Reynolds Myers have noted that the South Korean flag in the context of the country's society is often used as an ethnic flag, representing a grander nationalistic idea of a racialized people rather than merely symbolizing the state itself as in other countries. Myers argues that: "When the average man sees the flag, he feels fraternity with Koreans around the world." Myers also stated in a 2011 thesis that: "Judging from the yin-yang flag's universal popularity in South Korea, even among those who deny the legitimacy of the Republic of Korea, it evidently evokes the race first and the state second." This was reflected in the original version of the South Korean flag's pledge of allegiance, instituted in 1972 and used until 2007, which stressed allegiance to the "Korean race" rather than the South Korean state.
Desecration
The South Korean flag is considered by a large part of the country's citizens to represent the "Korean race" rather than solely the South Korean state; consequently flag desecration by the country's citizens is rare when compared to other countries, where citizens may desecrate their own national flags as political statements. Thus even some South Korean citizens opposed to the state will still treat their national flag with reverence and respect: "There is therefore none of the parodying or deliberate desecration of the state flag that one encounters in the countercultures of other countries."Regardless of frequency, the South Korean Criminal Act punishes desecration of the South Korean national flag in various ways:
- Article 105 imposes up to 5 years in prison, disfranchisement of up to 10 years, or a fine up to 7 million South Korean won for damaging, removing, or staining a South Korean flag or emblem with intent to insult the South Korean state. Article 5 makes this crime punishable, even if done by aliens outside South Korea.
- Article 106 imposes up to 1 years in prison, disfranchisement of up to 5 years, or a fine up to 2 million South Korean won for defaming a South Korean flag or emblem with intent to insult the South Korean state. Article 5 makes this crime punishable, even if done by aliens outside South Korea.
- Article 109 imposes up to 2 years in prison or a fine up to 3 million South Korean won for damaging, removing, or staining a foreign flag or emblem with intent to insult a foreign county. Article 110 forbids prosecution without foreign governmental complaint.
Specifications
Dimensions
The width and height are in the ratio of 3 to 2. There are five sections on the flag, the taegeuk and the four groups of bars. The diameter of the circle is half of the height. The top of the taegeuk should be red and the bottom of the taegeuk should be blue. The groups of bars are put in the four corners of the flag.Colours
The colours of the Taegukgi are specified in the "Ordinance Act of the Law concerning the National Flag of the Republic of Korea." There were no exact specifications regarding the colours until 1997, when the South Korean government decided to provide standard specifications for the flag. In October 1997, a Presidential ordinance on the standard specification of the South Korean flag was promulgated, and that specification was acceded by the National Flag Law in July 2007.The colours are defined in legislation by the Munsell and CIE colour systems:
| Scheme | Munsell | CIE | Pantone | Hex triplet |
| White | N 9.5 | N/A | N/A | #FFFFFF |
| Red | 6.0R 4.5/14 | 0.5640, 0.3194, 15.3 | 186 Coated | #CD2E3A |
| Blue | 5.0PB 3.0/12 | 0.1556, 0.1354, 6.5 | 294 Coated | #0047A0 |
| Black | N 0.5 | N/A | N/A | #000000 |