Flag of South Korea

The national flag of the Republic of Korea, also known as the Taegeukgi, consists of three components: a white rectangular background, a red and blue taegeuk in its center, accompanied by four black trigrams, one in each corner. The predecessors to the current Taegeukgi were used as the national flag of Korea by the Joseon dynasty, the Korean Empire, as well as the Korean government-in-exile during Japanese rule. South Korea adopted Taegeukgi for its national flag in 1948.

The flag's field is white, a traditional color in Korean culture that was common in the daily attire of 19th-century Koreans and still appears in contemporary versions of traditional Korean garments such as the hanbok. The color represents peace and purity. The circle in the flag's center symbolizes harmony in the world. Derived from the Chinese I Ching and Taiji (philosophy), known in the west as the Yin and Yang, the blue half represents negative energy (Yin), and the red half represents the positive energy (Yang). Together, the trigrams represent movement and harmony as fundamental principles. The name of the South Korean flag is used in the title of a 2004 film about the Korean War, Taegukgi. A Taegukgi with the word 不遠復 appeared in a 2011 film My Way. A Taegukgi with the word 大韓獨立 appeared in a stage musical Hero.