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
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...
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 Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
n national flag is officially defined in article 170 of Chapter VII of the North Korean constitution
The Socialist Constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea () is the constitution of North Korea. It was approved by the 6th Supreme People's Assembly at its first session on 27 December 1972, and has been amended and supplemented ...
. 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
Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...
, although since the flag's adoption the application of the Marxist–Leninist
Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialect ...
-natured philosophy of ''Juche
''Juche'' ( ; ), officially the ''Juche'' idea (), is the state ideology of North Korea and the official ideology of the Workers' Party of Korea. North Korean sources attribute its conceptualization to Kim Il-sung, the country's founder and f ...
'' 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
The Korean Friendship Association (KFA, es, Asociación de Amistad con Corea) is a Spain-based friendship association with North Korea. The KFA was established in November 2000. It claims to have official representatives in 34 countries. The KFA ...
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
''Rodong Sinmun'' (; ) is a North Korean newspaper that serves as the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. It was first published on November 1, 1945, as ''Chŏngro'' (), serving as a communication channel ...
'', Kim Il-sung
Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...
gave the following significance to the flag's elements:
The colours of the North Korean flag – red, white, and blue – are considered national colours
National colours are frequently part of a country's set of national symbols. Many states and nations have formally adopted a set of colours as their official "national colours" while others have ''de facto'' national colours that have become well ...
and symbolise respectively: revolutionary traditions; purity, strength, and dignity; and sovereignty, peace, and friendship.
Treatment
According to Korea expert and scholar Brian Reynolds Myers
Brian Reynolds Myers (born 1963), usually cited as B. R. Myers, is an American professor of international studies at Dongseo University in Busan, South Korea, best known for his writings on North Korean propaganda. He is a contributing editor ...
, in North Korea the flag of the Workers' Party of Korea
The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) is the founding and sole ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea. Founded in 1949 from the merger of the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party ...
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
The national flag of South Korea, also known as the Taegukgi (also spelled as ''Taegeukgi'', ) and colloquially known as the flag of Korea, has three parts: a white rectangular background, a red and blue Taegeuk in its center, accompanied by fo ...
'' 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
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...
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
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ec ...
supported by the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
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
The Provisional People's Committee of North Korea was the provisional government of North Korea.
The committee was established on 8 February 1946 in response for the need of the Soviet Civil Administration and the communists to have centralizatio ...
Kim Tu-bong
Kim Tu-bong (16 February 1889 – March 1958 or later) was the first Chairman of the Workers' Party of North Korea (a predecessor of today WPK) from 1946 to 1949. He was known in Korean history as a linguist, scholar, revolutionary and politi ...
was in favor of keeping the ''Taegukgi''. However, for Lebedev, the concept of Chinese philosophy
Chinese philosophy originates in the Spring and Autumn period () and Warring States period (), during a period known as the " Hundred Schools of Thought", which was characterized by significant intellectual and cultural develop ...
, 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 People's Assembly of North Korea () was the unicameral legislature of the People's Committee of North Korea. It consisted of 237 deputies elected during a meeting of the provincial, city and county people's committees, political parties and s ...
. 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
Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...
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
The history of North Korea began at the end of World War II in 1945. The surrender of Japan led to the division of Korea at the 38th parallel, with the Soviet Union occupying the north, and the United States occupying the south. The Soviet Union ...
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
Kijŏng-dong, Kijŏngdong, or Kijŏng tong is a Potemkin village in P'yŏnghwa-ri (), Kaesong, North Korea. It is situated in the North's half of the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Also known in North Korea as ''Peace Village'' (),[Military Demarcation Line
The Military Demarcation Line (MDL), sometimes referred to as the Armistice Line, is the land border or demarcation line between North Korea and South Korea. On either side of the line is the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The MDL and DMZ ...]
within the Korean Demilitarized Zone
The Korean Demilitarized Zone ( Korean: ; Hanbando Bimujang Jidae) is a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula near the 38th parallel north. The demilitarized zone (DMZ) is a border barrier that divides the peninsula roughly in ...
. 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
The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) is the military force of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Under the '' Songun'' policy, it is the central institution of North Korean society. Currently, WPK General S ...
(KPA), and its two subdivisions the Korean People's Air Force
The Korean People's Army Air and Anti-Air Force (KPAAF; ; Hanja: 朝鮮人民軍 航空 및 反航空軍 ) is the unified military aviation force of North Korea. It is the second largest branch of the Korean People's Army comprising an estimated ...
and Korean People's Navy
The Korean People's Army Naval Force (KPANF; Korean: 조선인민군 해군; Hanja: 朝鮮人民軍 海軍; ''Chosŏn-inmingun Haegun''; ) or the Korean People's Navy (KPN), is the naval service branch of the Korean People's Army, which contai ...
, 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
The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) is the founding and sole ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea. Founded in 1949 from the merger of the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party ...
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
Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and r ...
(1882-1907)
File:朝鮮國王王旗.PNG,
Royal standard of the Joseon dynasty
Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and r ...
(1882-1907)[
File:朴泳孝作 朝鮮國旗.jpg, ]
Taegukgi by Park Yeong-hyo
Park Yung-hyo or Bak Young-hyo (; 1861 – 21 September 1939) was a Korean politician from the Joseon Dynasty, an enlightenment activist, diplomat and pro-Japanese collaborator. He was one of the organizers of the Gapsin Coup of 1884, in ...
(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
Between 1910 and 1945, Korea was ruled as a part of the Empire of Japan. Joseon Korea had come into the Japanese sphere of influence with the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876; a complex coalition of the Meiji government, military, and business offici ...
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
The People's Republic of Korea (PRK) was a short-lived provisional government that was organized at the time of the surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of World War II. It was proclaimed on 6 September 1945, as Korea was being divided ...
from August 1945 to February 1946.
File:Flag of the Soviet Union (1924–1955).svg, The flag of the Soviet Union
The State Flag of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (), commonly known as the Soviet flag (), was the official state flag of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) from 1922 to 1991. The flag's design and symbolism are derived from ...
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
The Provisional People's Committee of North Korea was the provisional government of North Korea.
The committee was established on 8 February 1946 in response for the need of the Soviet Civil Administration and the communists to have centralizatio ...
(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
The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) is the founding and sole ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea. Founded in 1949 from the merger of the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party ...
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
The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) is the military force of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Under the '' Songun'' policy, it is the central institution of North Korean society. Currently, WPK General ...
File:Flag of the Korean People's Navy.svg, The flag of the North Korean navy
The Korean People's Army Naval Force (KPANF; Korean: 조선인민군 해군; Hanja: 朝鮮人民軍 海軍; ''Chosŏn-inmingun Haegun''; ) or the Korean People's Navy (KPN), is the naval service branch of the Korean People's Army, which contain ...
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
The Korean People's Army Air and Anti-Air Force (KPAAF; ; Hanja: 朝鮮人民軍 航空 및 反航空軍 ) is the unified military aviation force of North Korea. It is the second largest branch of the Korean People's Army comprising an estimated ...
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
The Committee for the Five Northern Korean Provinces (, literally "The North's Five Provinces Committee") is a South Korean government body under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.
History
Established in 1949, the committee is officially ...
under South Korean administration
See also
*List of North Korean flags
This is a list of flags used by North Korea.
National
Political
Military
See also
*List of Korean flags
References
Further reading
*
External linksNorth Koreaat Flags of the World
{{Lists of flags
North Korean
Flags
Flags
...
* Korean Unification Flag
*Flag of South Korea
The national flag of South Korea, also known as the Taegukgi (also spelled as ''Taegeukgi'', ) and colloquially known as the flag of Korea, has three parts: a white rectangular background, a red and blue Taegeuk in its center, accompanied by fo ...
*Order of the National Flag
The Order of the National Flag () is the second highest order of North Korea, after the Order of Kim Il-sung and the Order of Kim Jong-il.
It is the oldest order in the country, having been established in 1948, just six weeks after the North ...
References
Works cited
*
Further reading
*
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flag Of North Korea
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
National symbols of North Korea
Korea, North
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
Flags of North Korea