Flag of South Korea
Officially Republic of Korea
Locally Hanguk · 한국
What the flag looks like
A white field with a red-and-blue taegeuk (yin-yang) circle in the center, red on top, and a black trigram of three broken or unbroken bars near each corner.
What it means
White stands for peace and purity, the taegeuk for the balance of opposing forces, and the four trigrams for heaven, earth, water and fire.
How to remember it
South Korea
is a white flag with a red-and-blue yin-yang circle and four black bar patterns in the corners; North Korea
has stripes and a red star.
Fun facts
- The flag is called the Taegukgi, and its trigrams come from the ancient Chinese divination text the I Ching.
- A version of the flag was first used in 1883 by the Joseon dynasty.
South Korea at a glance
- Capital
- Seoul
- Region
- Eastern Asia
- Population
- 52 million
- Area
- 100,210 km²
- Languages
- Korean
- Currency
- South Korean won (₩)
- Flag adopted
- 1949