The Korean Flag in Numbers
South Korea's flag, the Taegukgi, is defined by law down to the last fraction. Every shape on it can be drawn from a handful of numbers.
This flag is not an image file. It is drawn on this page from the proportions in the table below.
The flag, number by number
The National Flag Act fixes the flag's proportions at three to two.
The diameter of the central circle, the taegeuk, is exactly half the height of the flag.
Red above for yang, blue below for eum (yin): opposing forces in balance and constant motion.
Geon (heaven) at upper left, gon (earth) at lower right, gam (water) at upper right and ri (fire) at lower left.
Each trigram has three bars. Six are unbroken and six are broken, so the flag carries 18 black pieces in all.
The taegeuk's dividing line and all four trigrams are aligned to the flag's two diagonals, which rise at about 33.7 degrees in a 3:2 rectangle.
The thickness of each bar. The gaps between bars, and the break in a broken bar, are half of that: 1/24.
White for brightness, purity and love of peace; red and blue for the taegeuk; black for the trigrams. Each has an official color code.
In September 1882 the envoy Park Yeong-hyo drew a flag with a taegeuk and four trigrams aboard a ship bound for Japan and began using it on the 25th.
King Gojong proclaimed the Taegukgi the national flag on 6 March 1883, but without specifying how to draw it, so many versions circulated.
After the Republic of Korea was founded, the government fixed a single construction of the flag on 15 October 1949.
The rules were put into law in January 2007, with the detailed geometry set out in an enforcement decree that July.
Five national holidays (1 March, 17 July, 15 August, 3 October, 9 October), plus Memorial Day on 6 June, at half-mast, and Armed Forces Day on 1 October.
The flag may fly around the clock if it is lit at night. Where it is raised daily, it goes up at 7 a.m. and comes down at 6 p.m. (5 p.m. from November to February).
The decree defines a special size plus sizes No. 1 to No. 10, all in the same 3:2 proportion.
The diameter of the golden finial on top of the pole, shaped like a mugunghwa bud with five sepals. The mugunghwa is Korea's national flower.
How to draw it
| Part | Size |
|---|---|
| Flag | width : height = 3 : 2 |
| Circle (taegeuk) | diameter = 1/2 of the flag's height, centered where the diagonals cross |
| Dividing curve | two half-circles, each 1/2 of the circle's diameter, along the diagonal from upper left to lower right |
| Trigram length | 1/2 of the circle's diameter, at a right angle to the diagonal |
| Trigram width | 1/3 of the circle's diameter |
| Gap between circle and trigram | 1/4 of the circle's diameter |
| Bar thickness | 1/12 of the circle's diameter |
| Gap between bars, and break in a broken bar | 1/24 of the circle's diameter |
Official colors
| Color | Munsell | CIE (x, y, Y) | On screen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red | 6.0R 4.5/14 | 0.5640, 0.3194, 15.3 | #CD2E3A |
| Blue | 5.0PB 3.0/12 | 0.1556, 0.1354, 6.5 | #0047A0 |
| Black | N 0.5 | – | #000000 |
| White | N 9.5 | – | #FFFFFF |
The law defines the colors in Munsell and CIE values. The on-screen codes for red and blue are those values converted to sRGB; black and white are shown as pure black and white.