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INFORMATION: Flag

The meaning of the Korean flag is very philosophical.  The origin comes from the Oriental philosophy called yin-yang, the Korean pronunciation is eum-yang.  Sometimes the flag itself is called taeguk-ki and summarises the thoughts of I-Ching, the Book of Change.  The name means as much as ‘the flag of great extremes’.

The flag consists of three parts; the white background, the red and blue circle in the centre and the four surrounding trigrams in each corner of the flag.  The white background means purity.  The red and blue circle in the centre is call taeguk and is the origin of all things in the universe and the four trigrams represent the concept of opposites and balance.  The central thought is perfect harmony and balance.

A continuous movement within the sphere of infinity results in one unit.  The blue part of taeguk is called eum and represents all negative aspects of the balance while the red part is called yang and describes all positive aspects.  The four trigrams in the corners (called gwe or kwe in Korean) also represent this concept; heaven (upper left) and earth at the opposite corner, water (upper-right) and fire in the opposite corner.  When looking at the trigrams you can see that they are opposites as well, three unbroken bars (heaven) vs. Three broken bars (earth).  For the Korean people their flag (taeguk-ki) is a source of pride and inspiration.

Origins - at the end of the 19th century Korean needed it’s own flag.  It is believed that Young-Hyo-Park came up with the first concept.  At the time Korea was under the influence of colonists like the Chinese, Japanese and Russians.  Yin means dark and cold while yang means bright and hot.  A very old book called ‘Choo-Yuk’, which is written by Chinese claims all objects and events in this world are expressed by the movements of yin and yang.  For example, the moon (A) is yin while the sun (B) is yang, the earth is yin and the sky is yang, the night is yin and the day is yang, the winter is yin and the summer is yang.  Yin and yang are relative.  Therefore, A can be yin with respect to B, while A can be yang with respect to C.  For example, the spring is yin w.r.t the summer and it is at the same time yang w.r.t the winter.

During the Japanese occupation period beginning in 1910 A.D. The Korean flag was outlawed in public places and for about thirty-five years the taeguk flags were kept hidden until Liberation Day in 1945 A.D.  The Korean flag has been a symbol of the country’s struggle for independence and freedom.  China wanted Korea to use a dragon as a symbol but Korea refused.

Taeguk-ki