''Taegeuk'' (, ) is a Korean term cognate with the Chinese term '' Taiji'' ( Wade-Giles spelling: ''T'ai-chi''), meaning "supreme ultimate", although it can also be translated as "great polarity / duality". The symbol was chosen for the design of the

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic ...

n national flag in the 1880s, swapping out the black and white color scheme often seen in most '' taijitu'' illustrations and substituting blue and red, respectively, along with a horizontal separator, as opposed to vertical. South Koreans commonly refer to their national flag as ' (Hangeul: , with ''gi; 기'' meaning "flag" or "banner"). This particular color-themed taegeuk symbol (i.e. using blue and red) is typically associated with Korean tradition and represents balance in the universe; the red half represents positive cosmic forces, and the blue half represents the complementary or opposing, negative cosmic forces. It is also used in Korean shamanism,

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...

Taoism Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the '' Ta ...

and

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

.Korea's Sam-Taegeuk Symbol
san-shin.org, dedicated to the sacred mountains of Korea.

History

The Taegeuk diagram has been existent for the majority of written Korean history. The origins of the interlocking- sinusoid design in Korea can be traced to as early as the

Goguryeo Goguryeo (37 BC–668 AD) ( ) also called Goryeo (), was a Korean kingdom located in the northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula and the southern and central parts of Northeast China. At its peak of power, Goguryeo controlled mos ...

or Silla period, e.g. in the decoration of a sword, dated to the 5th or 6th century, recovered from the grave of Michu of Silla, or an artifact with the taegeuk pattern of similar age found in the Bogam-ri tombs of

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (, ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BC to 660 AD. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. Baekje was founded by Onjo, the third son of Goguryeo's founder J ...

at Naju, South Jeolla Province in 2008. In the compound of Gameunsa, a temple built in AD 628 during the reign of King Jinpyeong of Silla, a stone object, perhaps the foundation of a pagoda, is carved with the taegeuk design. In Gojoseon, the ancient kingdom of Joseon, the design was used to express the hope for harmony of

yin and yang Yin and yang ( and ) is a Chinese philosophical concept that describes opposite but interconnected forces. In Chinese cosmology, the universe creates itself out of a primary chaos of material energy, organized into the cycles of yin and ya ...

. It is likely due to the earliest spread of ancient Chinese culture in Gojoseon, especially during the early

Zhou dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by th ...

. Today the TaeGeuk is usually associated with Korean tradition and represents balance in the universe, as mentioned in the previous section (red = 양; ''yang'', or positive cosmic forces, and blue = 음; ''yin'', or negative cosmic forces). Among its many religious connotations ( Korean Confucianism;

Taoism in Korea Taoism or "Do" is thought to be the earliest state philosophy for the Korean people spanning several thousand years. However, its influence waned with the introduction of Buddhism during the Goryeo kingdom as the national religion and the domin ...

; Korean Buddhism), the taeguk is also present in Korean shamanism.

South Korean flag

The Taegeuk symbol is most prominently displayed in the center of South Korea's national flag, called the ''taegeukgi'', literally ''taegeuk flag.''(along with four of the eight trigrams used in divination). Because of the Taegeuk's association with the national flag, it is often used as a patriotic symbol, as are the colors red, blue, and black. While the use of the taeguk and the trigrams have been used since the earliest periods of Korean history, its history goes back even further in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. The Taegeuk is a

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...

icon which symbolizes cosmic balance, and represents the constant interaction between the

, also known as ''eum/yang'' in Korean (음양 , 陰陽). The taegeuk symbol used on the flag originated from the Chinese Confucian classic known as '' The Book of Changes'' (also known as ''I Ching'' or ''Yijing''), a book developed for use in divination. The four trigrams also originated from the

I Ching The ''I Ching'' or ''Yi Jing'' (, ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. Originally a divination manual in the Western Zh ...

; each of these trigrams represent specific Confucian virtues, cosmic elements, or family roles, in addition to seasons, compass directions, etc. The 건 "geon" trigram (☰) represents the heaven (sky), summer, south, father, and justice. The 곤 "gon" trigram (☷) symbolizes the earth (ground), winter, north, mother, and vitality, the 감 "gam" trigram (☵) the moon, autumn, west, 2nd (or middle) son, and wisdom, and the 리 "ri" trigram (☲) the sun, spring, east, 2nd (or middle) daughter, and fruition. The four trigrams supposedly move in an endless cycle from "geon" to "ri" to "gon" to "gam" and back to "geon" in their pursuit of perfection. The white background symbolizes the homogeneity, integrity and purity of the Korean people. Traditionally, Koreans often wore white clothing, earning the nickname "white-clothed people" and therefore the colour white epitomizes the Korean people.

Variants

Tricolored taegeuk

A popular variant in South Korea is the tricolored taegeuk (''sam·saeg·ui tae·geuk'' or ''sam·tae·geuk'' ), which adds a yellow lobe or "pa" ( ). The yellow portion is taken as representing humanity, in addition to the red and blue representing earth and heaven respectively. This version with more than two colours is related to the Tibetan & Korean Buddhist symbol of Gankyil. A rendition of the tricolored TaeGeuk also appeared in the official logo of the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

accompanied by the five Olympic rings.http://www.aldaver.com/Images/Os/lg1988sm.gif A similar symbol is used by the

Miss Asia Pacific World Miss Asia Pacific World is an annual beauty pageant held in South Korea. It has been subject to a number of controversies over rankings, bribes, and breast augmentation surgeries. In the 2014 Miss Asia Pacific World competition, May Myat Noe of ...

Beauty Pageant A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

, which was hosted in South Korea from its inception in 2011 until 2014, and most recently hosted in the Philippines in 2019 (the 2020 event was cancelled due to COVID-19).

Paralympics symbol

The first designated

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

logo, created for the 1988 Summer Paralympics in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

, was based on the traditional ''pa'' ( ), the spiral or sinusoid components making up the Taegeuk symbol. In March 1992,Vom Rehabilitationssport zu den Paralympics
(

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

), Sportmuseum Leipzig the Paralympic symbol was changed to a version utilizing only three ''pa''. This was not fully adopted until after the

1994 Winter Paralympics The 1994 Winter Paralympics ( no, Paralympiske vinterleker 1994; nn, Paralympiske vinterleikane 1994), the sixth Paralympic Winter Games, were held in Lillehammer, Norway, from 10 to 19 March 1994. These Games marked the second time the Paral ...

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the munic ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

, since the Lillehammer Paralympic Organizing Committee had by then already started a marketing program based on the five-pa version. The three-''pa'' version remained in place from the close of the Lillehammer Games through the 2004 Summer Paralympics in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

.International Paralympic Committee - The IPC logo, motto and flag
CRWFlags.com The current Paralympic symbol has morphed the teardrop-shaped ''pa'' into more of a swoosh (similar to the Nike logo), but still employs three such colour swatches, one each of red, blue, and green.

Gallery

File:Taegeuk in Naju Hyanggyo.jpg, Taegeuk pattern painted on the gate of a house in Naju Image:Sam Taeguk.jpg, Tricolored TaeGeuk on a

buk (drum) The ''buk'' () is a traditional Korean drum. While the term ''buk'' is a native Korean word used as a generic term meaning "drum" (the Sino-Korean word being ''go''), it is most often used to refer to a shallow barrel-shaped drum, with a roun ...

Image:Samtaegeuk with Fu Hsi's 8 trigrams.svg, Tricolored TaeGeuk encircled by pal gwae.

References

External links

Taegeuk
at ''

Naver Naver (Hangul: 네이버) is a South Korean online platform operated by the Naver Corporation. It was launched in 1999 as the first web portal in South Korea to develop and use its own search engine. It was also the world's first operator to ...

'' {{in lang, ko Korean culture National symbols of Korea National symbols of South Korea Tao Visual motifs Korean heraldry