The South Korean Flag: A Symbol of Peace and Balance
The South Korean flag, known as Taegukgi, is a symbol of peace and purity with its white field. The circle in the center represents balance in the world, with the blue half symbolizing the sky and the red half representing the land. The two trigrams in the center symbolize movement and harmony as key principles.
History of the South Korean Flag
Before 1876, the Joseon dynasty in Korea did not have a national flag, but the king had his own royal standard. However, the lack of a national flag became a problem during the negotiations for the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1876, where the delegate from Japan displayed the Japanese national flag, but Korea had no corresponding national symbol to exhibit.
In 1880, the increasing number of foreign negotiations led to the need for a national flag, and the most popular proposal was described in the "Korea Strategy" papers, written by the Chinese delegate Huang Zunxian. This proposal was to incorporate the flag of the Qing dynasty of China into that of the Joseon dynasty of Korea.
During the negotiations for the United States-Korea Treaty of 1882, US emissary Robert Wilson Shufeldt suggested that Korea adopt a national flag to represent its sovereignty. This led the king of Joseon, Kojong, to order officials Sin Heon and Kim Hong-jip to begin working on a new flag.
Lee Eung-jun was then tasked with creating the first design, which was presented to the Chinese official Ma Jianzhong. Ma Jianzhong proposed a modified dragon flag, but Kojong rejected this idea.
He instead proposed the Taegeuk and Eight Trigrams flag, with changes made by Kim and Ma. The final design was approved by Kojong in 1882, and the Taegukgi was officially declared the national flag in January 1883.
The Taegukgi remained in use after the southern portion of Korea became a republic under the influence of the United States in 1945 and was also used by the People's Republic of Korea.
In 1949, the current flag was declared official by the government of South Korea, although it had been used as the de facto national flag prior. The precise dimensions and color scheme of the flag were codified in 1984 and 1997, respectively.
