| Korea's Taegeukgi Flag |
Early versions of the Republic of
Korea's Taegeuk-gi National Flag
Korea's Taegeuk-gi National Flag
| said to be from 1882 |
| 1912, Cheongsong County relic |
| Taegeukgi that hung in the office of Kim Gu, President of the ROK in exile in China, about 1940-45. Note the vertical orientation of the Taegeuk -- more Chinese-style. |
It was designed to display loyalty to the ancient oriental (Chinese-origin) spiritual
culture(s), in opposition to Japan's late-19th-cen abandonment of it in favor of
"barbaric" westernization. It features a Koreanized version of the Taegeuk
[Chinese Daoism's Taiji, Grand Ultimate or yin-yang symbol], and four out of
the Palgwae [Bagua, the eight Trigrams of the I Ching], the ones representing
Heaven, Earth, Fire & Water, whose three-level structure represents Cheon-Ji-In
[Heaven, Earth & Humanity], the fundamental oriental Trinity.
culture(s), in opposition to Japan's late-19th-cen abandonment of it in favor of
"barbaric" westernization. It features a Koreanized version of the Taegeuk
[Chinese Daoism's Taiji, Grand Ultimate or yin-yang symbol], and four out of
the Palgwae [Bagua, the eight Trigrams of the I Ching], the ones representing
Heaven, Earth, Fire & Water, whose three-level structure represents Cheon-Ji-In
[Heaven, Earth & Humanity], the fundamental oriental Trinity.
| "The world's most philosophical flag" |
the above flag rendered backwards, in
an 1882-7 US Navy Signals Handbook
an 1882-7 US Navy Signals Handbook
| 1882-09 version, attributed to activist Park Yeong-hyo |
| Late Joseon Dynasty and "Daehan Empire" versions |
| both from 1883 Qing Dynasty diplomatic records -- note the dots in the maximums of the swirls -- |
| Korean flag given to US diplomat Owen Denny by King Gojong in 1890, in US Navy Museum, Annapolis, Maryland. |
| detail of a U.S. postal stamp at the end of World War II |
| Joseon Dynasty flag used around 1800, with all 8 Palgwae Trigrams, in the Earlier Heaven arrangement |
| 1910 "Daehan Empire" version |
| treasured Taegeukgi used by resistance fighters in 1911-12, kept in Samgak-san Jingwan-sa. |
| the modern Taegeukgi national flag of the Republic of Korea see the Wikipedia article about it |
| a crude version dated to 1885, in the Seoul Museum of History -- first vertical-divided two-fat-parts version, and unique that the left half is is white instead of blue or yellow. |
