Flag of North Korea

The flag of North Korea, also known as the Ramhongsaek Konghwagukgi ( ko, 람홍색공화국기; literally "blue and red-coloured flag of the republic"), sometimes known as the flag of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, consists of a central red panel, bordered both above and below by a narrow white stripe and a broad blue stripe. The central red panel bears a five-pointed red star within a white circle near the hoist. The flag is strictly prohibited under the National Security Act in South Korea due to its association with the ruling North Korean regime, but it is only allowed in extremely exceptional cases such as media coverage, drama and film shooting, and international sports events.

Design

The North Korean national flag is officially defined in article 170 of Chapter VII of the North Korean constitution. According to it:

Color scheme

The video colors approximation is listed below:

Symbolism

The North Korean flag's prominent motif is a red star, which is a universal symbol of communism and socialism, although since the flag's adoption the application of the Marxist–Leninist-natured philosophy of ''Juche'' has replaced communist authority as the state's guiding ideology, and references to communism have been systematically removed from the country's constitution and legal documents. However, the constitution is still stated to be socialist in nature. Despite the many changes to the constitution, the description of the flag has always remained the same.

The website of the Korean Friendship Association indicates that, on the contrary, the red star represents revolutionary traditions and the red panel is indicative of the patriotism and determination of the Korean people. The white stripes symbolize the unity of the Korean nation and its culture. The blue stripes represent the desire to fight for independence, peace, friendship, and international unity.

According to a typical North Korean official text published in ''Rodong Sinmun'', Kim Il-sung gave the following significance to the flag's elements:

The colours of the North Korean flag – red, white, and blue – are considered national colours and symbolise respectively: revolutionary traditions; purity, strength, and dignity; and sovereignty, peace, and friendship.

Treatment

According to Korea expert and scholar Brian Reynolds Myers, in North Korea the flag of the Workers' Party of Korea and the Korean People's Army Supreme Commander's personal standard are treated with more reverence than the North Korean national flag, with the Supreme Commander's flag ranking highest among the three in terms of reverence.

History

Background

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Korean Peninsula was ruled by a monarchy known as the Korean Empire. During this time, the Korean monarchy used a flag now known as the ''Taegukgi'' as its national flag. It featured a yin-yang symbol surrounded by four trigrams. The ''Taegukgi'' flag remained as the symbol of Korea after Imperial Japan occupied and annexed the Korean Peninsula in 1910.

In 1945, World War II ended with an Allied victory and Japan was defeated. Per Allied terms, Japan relinquished its control over the Korean Peninsula, with the Soviet Union occupying the northern half of Korea and the U.S. occupying the southern half of it. The northern portion of the Korean Peninsula became a socialist republic supported by the Soviet Union following the restoration of independence of Korea in 1945, the ''Taegukgi'' was re-adopted there.

Inception

In 1947 the Soviets communicated via Major General to discuss whether the ''Taegukgi'' flag should be kept for newly founded North Korea. Vice Chairman of the Provisional People's Committee for North Korea Kim Tu-bong was in favor of keeping the ''Taegukgi''. However, for Lebedev, the concept of Chinese philosophy, which the design of the ''Taegukgi'' is based on, appear to him as medieval superstition, so he wanted to change to a new flag. Kim yielded and a few months later the design for the new flag was dictated from Moscow, although it is not known who the Soviet official was that designed the flag. Before its formal adoption, the flag remained in official use.

The design of the flag was disclosed, along with a draft constitution, on 1 May 1948. On 10 July 1948 the new flag was approved by the provisional People's Assembly of North Korea. The following month Kim, who formerly supported the traditional design, wrote a reasoned text ''On the Establishing of the New National Flag and the Abolition of Taegukgi''. Thereby he explained the decision to adopt a new flag against the wishes of those who favored the old one. In terms of North Korean official texts, Kim's account is unequivocally frank in acknowledging dissenting public opinion. In 1957, Kim Tu-bong was purged by Kim Il-sung who by that time had erected a cult of personality. Any mention of the use of ''Taegukgi'' was removed from texts and it was doctored out of photographs on the orders of Kim Il-sung who sought to monopolize North Korean history to serve him and his regime. Contemporary official North Korean accounts now posit that the new flag of North Korea as personally designed by Kim Il-sung.

Use in propaganda

A North Korean national flag flies from a tall flagpole, which is located at Kijŏng-dong within the Korean Demilitarized Zone. The flag-pole is tall.

Historical and other flags

There are several other known flags to be in use in North Korea by its regime. There are flags for the Korean People's Army (KPA), and its two subdivisions the Korean People's Air Force and Korean People's Navy, which follow a common design but with different colors (blue and white for the North Korean navy and dark blue and light blue for the North Korean air force). There is also a flag of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea that is modeled on similar communist party flags, and a flag for the Supreme Commander of the KPA used by Kim Jong-un, which has the Supreme Commander's arms on a red field. KPA Guards units use the same common design but with the national arms in the center of the obverse field.

File:Flag of the king of Joseon.svg, Royal standard of the Joseon dynasty (1882-1907)
File:朝鮮國王王旗.PNG, Royal standard of the Joseon dynasty (1882-1907)
File:朴泳孝作 朝鮮國旗.jpg, Taegukgi by Park Yeong-hyo (September 1882)
File:Flag of Korea (November 1882).svg, Taegukgi (November 1882)
File:Flag of Korea (1893).png, Taegukgi (1910)
File:Korean flag 1944 United States stamp detail.jpg, Older version of the Taegukgi on a U.S. postage stamp (1944)
File:Flag of Japan (1870–1999).svg, The flag of Japanese Korea used during the Japanese rule of Korea (1910-1945).
File:Flag of the People's Committee of Korea.svg, The flag of the People's Republic of Korea from August 1945 to February 1946.
File:Flag of the Soviet Union (1924–1955).svg, The flag of the Soviet Union used during the Soviet colonization of the northern part of Korea from October 1945 to September 1948.
File:Provisional People's Committee for North Korea flag.svg, The flag of the Provisional People's Committee for North Korea (February 1946 – July 1948)
File:Flag of North Korea (1948–1992).svg, Post-independence North Korean flag from 1948 to 1992
File:Flag of North Korea.svg, North Korean flag from 1992 to present
File:Flag of the Workers' Party of Korea.svg, The flag of the Workers' Party of Korea
File:Flag of the Workers' Party of Korea Vertical Display.svg, The proper way to display the Korean Workers' Party flag vertically
File:Standard of the Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army.svg, The personal standard of the KPA Supreme Commander
File:Flag of the Korean People's Army -v.svg, The flag of the North Korean armed forces (1992–1993)
File:Flag of the Korean People's Army Ground Force.svg, The flag of the North Korean army
File:Flag of the Korean People's Navy.svg, The flag of the North Korean navy
File:Guards ensign of North Korea.svg, The North Korean guards ensign
File:Naval Ensign of North Korea -vector.svg, The North Korean naval ensign
File:NKAF flag.svg, The flag of the North Korean air force
File:Unification flag of Korea.svg, The Unification Flag of North and South Korea
File:Flag of the Committee for the Five Northern Korean Provinces.svg, Flag used by the Committee for the Five Northern Korean Provinces under South Korean administration

See also

*List of North Korean flags
* Korean Unification Flag
*Flag of South Korea
*Order of the National Flag

References

Works cited

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Further reading

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External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Flag Of North Korea
North Korea
National symbols of North Korea
Korea, North
North Korea
Flags of North Korea