The national flag of the Republic of Korea, also known as the Taegeukgi (also spelled as Taegukgi, ), has three parts: a white rectangular background, a red and blue Taegeuk in its center, accompanied by four black trigrams, one in each corner. Flags similar to the current Taegeukgi were used as the national flag of Korea by the Joseon dynasty, the Korean Empire, as well as the Korean government-in-exile during Japanese rule. South Korea adopted the Taegeukgi as its national flag when it gained independence from Japan on 15 August 1945.
Symbolism
The flag's field is white, a traditional color in Korean culture that was common in the daily attire of 19th-century Koreans and still appears in contemporary versions of traditional Korean garments such as the hanbok. The color represents peace and purity.
The circle in the flag's center symbolizes balance in the world. The blue half represents the sky, and the red half represents the land.
Together, the trigrams represent movement and harmony as fundamental principles. Each trigram (hangeul: [gwae]; hanja: ) represents one of the four classical elements, as described below:
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, but the king had his own royal standard. 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 Joseon 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 Joseon 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 but reemerged with the negotiation of the United States–Korea Treaty of 1882, also known as the Shufeldt Treaty. The US emissary Robert Wilson Shufeldt suggested that Korea adopt a national flag to represent its sovereignty. The king of Joseon, Kojong, ordered government officials Sin Heon and Kim Hong-jip to begin working on a new flag. Kim Hong-jip in turn asked delegate Lee Eung-jun to create the first design, which Lee Eung-jun presented to the Chinese official Ma Jianzhong. Ma Jianzhong argued against Huang Zunxian's proposal that Korea adopt the flag of the Qing dynasty, and proposed a modified dragon flag. Kojong rejected this idea. Ma suggested Lee Eung-jun's Taegeuk and Eight Trigrams flag. Kim and Ma proposed changes to it: Kim proposed changing the red to blue and white; Ma proposed a white field, a red and black Taegeuk, black Eight Trigrams, and a red border. On 14 May 1882, before the Joseon–United States Treaty of 1882, Park Yeong-hyo presented a scale model of the Lee Eung-jun's Taegukgi to the Joseon government. And Gojong approved Lee Eung-jun's taegukgi. Park Yeong-hyo became the first person to use the Taegukgi in 1882. The 2 October 1882 issue of the Japanese newspaper Jiji shimpō credited Gojong as the designer of the Taegukgi (i.e., a flag with a red and blue Taegeuk and four trigrams). On 27 January 1883, the Joseon government officially promulgated the 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. Under colonial rule, the Taeguk and Korean flag grew as a powerful symbol of independence in the 1,500 demonstrations taken place.