l 데니 태극기 Denny's Taegeukgi (left): the oldest one among Taegeukgi flags found in Korea. This was given to O. N. Denny (1838-1900, an American diplomatic advisor) by King Gojong of Korean Empire (cr. 문화재청)

815 광복절 Happy National Liberation Day of Korea!

“I want our nation to be the most beautiful in the world. By this I do not mean the most powerful nation. Because I have felt the pain of being invaded by another nation, I do not want my nation to invade others. It is sufficient that our wealth makes our lives abundant; it is sufficient that our strength is able to prevent foreign invasions. The only thing that I desire in infinite quantity is the power of a noble culture. This is because the power of culture both makes ourselves happy and gives happiness to others.” —Kim Gu 백범 김구 cr.

The Korean flag (Hangul:  태극기 ), literally “supreme ultimate flag”, was first created somewhere in the late 1800′s when the absence of a national flag began to be a problem during negotiations with Japan. The flag is loaded with symbolism, which we will explore in this lesson. 

The white background represents peace and purity. The circle in the center refers to the yin-yang philosophy from China and represents balance in the universe. The red is for positive cosmic forces and the blue for negative cosmic forces. Each trigram (괘), the black lines, represents a specific classical element. 

☰ :  건, justice (정의)

☲ :  리, fruition (결실) 

☵ :  감, wisdom (지혜)

☷ :  곤, vitality (생명력)

The trigrams have more meanings, which you can research on your own! 

Pan Taegeukgi D.va (with bonus sprays) for @sstarkxller

Where there is peace, there is sports; where there is sports, there is peace. Peace is what allows us, especially young people, to dream, go after one's goals and prepare you for the next challenge in life.  - Kim Yuna, 2010 Olympic Gold Medalist (Ladies’ Singles Figure Skating), 2014 Silver Medalist (Ladies’ Singles Figure Skating)

What is the Korean flag, Taegeukgi?

What is the Korean flag, Taegeukgi? The Korean flag is known as Taegeukgi (太極旗). Taegeukgi is the national flag of Korea and is used as the national flag of the Republic of Korea. This flag consists of distinctive shapes and colors. Taegeukgi, the national flag of Korea, is composed of the Taegeuk symbol in the center and the four geongongamri (乾坤坎離) four trigrams on a white background. The…