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History of the South Korean flag

See also:

South Korea

The Korean flag was slightly changed in 21 February 1984, but the disposition of the ying yang seems strange (left blue, right red instead red over blue). I checked some plates pre-1984 and in all the plates the flag is red over blue. The flag was not adopted until 1950 but was in use de facto after 1945; perhaps the design posted is derived from the designs used from 1945-50,
Jaume Ollé, 31 December 1998

by David Kendall

I saw on TV recently what seems to be the first flag of the Republic of Korea. This was on the TV show M*A*S*H, a show from the 1970s, but set in the times of the Korean War. The flag references they have (the show is set on a US Army medical base) are quite accurate (i.e. a 48-star flag flies over the compound, along with a UN and S. Korean flag), so I don't doubt the authenticity of the flag. The flag was shown in a good shot in the episode "Welcome to Korea" (season opener of season 5), and I attach it as KR-1952.GIF (because it was referenced in the episode that it takes place shortly before September 19, 1952). The major differences: the four corner elements are smaller and closer to the corner, and the ying-yang is on its side. The ying-yang also appeared to be drawn differently, but I couldn't get a clear enough shot of it to tell for sure how it appeared.
David Kendall, 29 December 1998

I just opened by chance my Crampton's Complete Guide to Flags, 1990, just on the page where Korea is and noticed a sentence that did not sound familiar.

So, it says: South Korea has kept the flag of the former Kingdom of Korea, although it has been modified. ... and the trigrams (kwae) are reduced from eight to four."

So, what was the flag of the Kingdom of Korea with 8 kwaes? When did the change occur?
Zeljko Heimer, 13 January 1999

by Antonio Martins

This is perhaps the oldest representation of the South Korean flag, along with an article which appeared in a local, Seoul newspaper.
Patrick Kirol, 11 March 2000

by Jarig Bakker

In 'The International Geography', London, 1911, I found this flag - the old flag of Korea, before it was occupied by Japan in 1905. Korea ceased to exist until 1947, after which a lot of things happened.

However the 'old Korean flag' differs in several respects from the present South Korean flag:

The 4 I-ching signs are arranged differently
They are colored blue in stead of black.
The Yin-Yang - sign is much more intricate.

I scanned the flag. Perhaps some Korean FOTWer can tell us more about the 8 kwaes?
Jarig Bakker, 14 January 1999

That's IT! That's the Korean flag I saw in the episode of M*A*S*H! (I couldn't get