South Korea Flags

The flag of South Korea is rectangular in shape and has a circle and trigrams. The elements of the flag are colored with four colors white, red, blue, and black. Inside the two sections of the circle, the part above is red while the other blue. Each corner of the flag has a black trigram while the whole background is colored white. The flag is also known as Taegukgi (supreme ultimate flag). The current flag of South Korea was adopted in October 1997, while the first flag was adopted in 1883.

The white color covering the whole background symbolizes peace. The red (yin) and blue (yang) color on the circle represent the equilibrium of the universe where the red color symbolizes positive forces and the blue stands for negative forces. The four trigrams on each corner have a natural meaning: the four short trigram stands for earth, three long trigrams stand for heaven, two long ones and two short ones in the middle stand for fire and the four short ones with a long middle stands for fire.

The flag of South Korea was designed and created by Bak Yeong-Hyo. Ambassador Bak Yeong-Hyo had been appointed as the Korean ambassador to the UK. He drew the flag while on a ship to Japan after being appointed by Emperor Gojong. Ambassador Bak Yeong-Hyo created the flag without the Emperor’s knowledge. Later in the same month, he notified the Emperor about the flag. The emperor went ahead and made it the official flag of Korea in 1883.

Previous flags of South Korea have been all the same. They were based on after the ambassador’s flag creation. The only difference comes on the tone of colors used on the flags and shape of the yin and yang. Also, the kwaes used were different. The major difference was the tone used for the color blue.

This page was last modified on May 1st, 2018

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Published on 2019-11-06


Capital	Seoul
Languages	Korean, English (widely taught in junior high and high school)
Ethnic Groups	Homogeneous
Religion	Protestant 19.7%, Buddhist 15.5%, Catholic 7.9%, none 56.9% (2015 est.)
Government	Presidential republic
Independance	15 August 1945 (from Japan)
Area	99,720.00 km²
Water Area	2,800.00 km²
Land Area	96,920.00 km²
Population	50,924,172.00 With approximately 70% of the country considered mountainous, the country's population is primarily concentrated in the lowland areas, where density is quite high; Gyeonggi Province in the northwest, which surrounds the capital and contains Incheon, is the most densely populated province; Gangwon in the northeast is the least populated
Location	Eastern Asia, southern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea
No. Bordering Countries	1
Bordering Countries	North Korea 237 km
GDP(PPP)	$1,930,000,000,000.00 (USD)
Export Partners	Its major export partners are China, the United States, and Hong Kong.
Export Commodities	Its main exports are semiconductors, petrochemicals, automobile/auto parts, ships, and wireless communication equipment.
Import Partners	Its major import partners are China, Japan, and the United States.
Import Commodities	Its major imports include crude oil, natural gas, coal, and steel.
Climate	Temperate, with rainfall heavier in summer than winter; cold winters
Terrain	Mostly hills and mountains; wide coastal plains in west and south
Learn More	South Korea

South Korea Flags

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