SOUTH KOREA

The flag of South Korea, or Taegukgi has three parts: a white background; a red and blue taegeuk in the center; and four black trigrams, one in each corner of the flag. The flag was designed by Bak Yeong-hyo, the Korean ambassador to Japan. King Gojong proclaimed the Taegeukgi to be the official flag of Korea on 6 March 1883. The four trigrams originates in the Chinese book I Ching, representing the four Chinese philosophical ideas about the universe: harmony, symmetry, balance, circulation.