Sunday, March 29, 2009


Actually there is no history about our national flag not like other countries, however, there are a lot of meanings in it. Before explaining the meaning of the national flag of Korea, Taegukgi, I'd like to explain background and history about it. ‘Taegeukgi’ was to be a official flag of Korea on March 6, 1883 by King Gojong. There were also 'Samtaeguk' and 'Taeguk'. 'Samtaeguk' was used in ancient times especially in Buddhist temples, bells, royal tombs and so on. It also represents country or is used for hoping happiness. Our country flag looks like complicated, and it is. When I was a elementary student, there was an exam which was drawing a ‘Taegukgi’, and I was always confused. If you look at the middle of the Taegukgi, you can see a circle whose color are red and blue. That is called ‘Taeguk’ and it means harmony. The red one means ‘Yang’, the other one means ‘Yin’ and a circle means principle of universe. If you look edge of the Taegukgi, there are something whose color is black, looks like skinny square. There are four in Taegukgi. All of them look similar but different. If you count on each of them, they all have different numbers. It means heaven’s blessing and a bright future. There is also another meaning in here. Two of them which is located at upper left and right mean water and heaven. The Rest of them which is located at lower left and right mean earth and fire. Last, background’s color is white, and it means peace. The reason why both country, North and South Korea have different national flags is because North Korea changed their flag. Both of them chose ‘Taegeukgi’ as their national flags after independence, but North Korea changed their flags after 3years.