🇰🇷 The colours of South Korea
6 meanings recorded, 1 colour tied to the country and 2 colour cities.
South Korea's flag, the Taegeukgi, features white, red, blue, and black. White stands for peace and purity, red and blue for the balance of positive and negative forces, and black for the four trigrams, which symbolise movement and harmony. These colours reflect deep roots in Korean tradition and philosophy.
Where no official value is given, the swatch shows the colour family, not the exact shade.
- White symbolises peace and purity, rooted in traditional Korean clothing.
- Red and blue in the centre show the balance of positive and negative forces.
- Black trigrams represent movement, harmony, and classical elements.
- The flag's design was first used in 1882 and made official in 1883.
- Official colour standards were set by law in 1997.
The colours of the flag of South Korea
The South Korean flag, Taegeukgi, is made up of a white background, a red and blue circle in the centre, and four black trigrams in each corner. White is a traditional Korean colour, once common in everyday clothing, and stands for peace and purity. The central circle, split into red (Yang) and blue (Yin), shows the idea of harmony and balance in the world, drawing from ancient Chinese philosophy. The four black trigrams around the circle each represent movement and harmony, as well as the classical elements.
How the colours were chosen of South Korea
Korea did not have a national flag until the late 19th century, when foreign treaties made it necessary. Early proposals included elements from the Chinese Qing flag, but the design settled on the Taegeuk and trigrams. The flag was first used in 1882 and officially adopted in 1883. It became a symbol of independence during Japanese rule and was readopted after liberation in 1945. The current design was standardised in 1949, with precise colours set by law in 1997.
Official shades and rules of South Korea
The flag's proportions are set at a 3:2 width to height ratio. The central circle's diameter is half the flag's height. The red half of the circle is on top, blue on the bottom. Each trigram's width matches the radius of the circle. The colours were not legally specified until 1997, when official standards were set using colour systems. Flagpoles should be white, silver, or green.
The facts in this overview come from the Wikipedia article "Flag of South Korea", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Rang rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
What colours mean in South Korea
Customs vary by region, faith and family; these are the meanings most often recorded.
Supporters of the national football team are called the Red Devils. During the 2002 World Cup, crowds in red shirts filled the streets of Seoul.
Festival and celebrationPrideEnergySource: Red Devils (supporters club)The national flag carries a red and blue circle, the taegeuk. Red is the positive force and blue the negative, the two in balance, on a white ground that stands for peace and purity.
Politics and protestSource: Flag of South KoreaObangsaek is the set of five traditional colours: blue, red, yellow, white and black, one for each direction and the centre. Yellow is the centre. Children's striped saekdong sleeves use the set.
Protection and healingHopeSource: ObangsaekIn party politics the liberal Democratic Party campaigns in blue and the conservative People Power Party in red, the reverse of the usual left and right colours in Europe.
Politics and protestSource: People Power PartyKoreans were long known as the white-clad people, because plain white hanbok was everyday dress for commoners well into the twentieth century.
Purity and peacePrideSource: White clothing in KoreaAt a traditional funeral the family wore pale, undyed hemp. Today mourners mostly wear black suits, but close relatives may still pin on a small white ribbon.
Mourning and deathGriefSource: MourningColour and feeling in South Korea
On Black Day, 14 April, single people gather to eat jajangmyeon, noodles in black bean sauce, a wry answer to Valentine's Day and White Day.
Colour cities of South Korea
Colours tied to South Korea
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Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Bukchon Kr: kallerna, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Gamcheon Kr: Christophe95, CC BY-SA 4.0, source