The World's Oldest Korean Flag

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the oldest known flag of the Korean (한·韓) people.
“Denny’s Taegeukgi”

The oldest surviving Taegeukgi, registered as heritage No. 382 by the Cultural Heritage Administration, is named “Denny’s Taegeukgi,” which King Gojong reportedly presented to his U.S. diplomatic adviser Owen N. Denny (1838-1900) in 1890, and is kept at the National Museum of Korea.

The official designer of the Taegeukgi (태극기), the official flag of Korea, is Joseon's last King (26th) and later the founding Emperor of Korea, King Gojong (1852 ~ 1919). The 1882 design is based on the Taegeuk Palgwado (태극 팔괘도) of the Royal flag (어기) of Joseon Dynasty (1392 - 1897).

The colors of the Taegeukgi represent the People (white), the Government (blue), and the King (red), with four symbols surrounding the Eum/Yang in the center, Gun (건) representing the heavens, Gahm (감) representing the water, Gon (곤) representing the earth and Li (리) representing fire. They also represent the four seasons.

Other officials credited with the actual making of the Taegeukgi include Lee Eung-joon (이응준) and Park Young-hyo (박영효). According to Park Seung-u, a great-grandson of Park Young-hyo, Park Young-hyo designed the original Taegeukgi on his diplomatic mission to Japan in 1882. Mr. Park Seung-u passed away on July 24, 2020.

The origin of the "Han" character used in the official name of our people, "Han Guk, as in Daehan Minguk" (대한민국 大韓民國), includes Taejo Wang Geon, the founder of the Goryeo dynasty, who said, "The founding of Goryeo was the unification of the ‘Three Han’ in reference to the collective name of Byeon-Han, Jin-Han, and Ma-Han confederacies, from the first century BCE during the Proto–Three Kingdoms of Korea, or Sam Han (삼한) period.”

Despite centuries of tomb raiding, especially during the Japanese colonial period in the 20th century, researchers discovered gilt-bronze shoes among other ancient artifacts at the Ancient tombs of the Royal family tombs of Morobiri kingdom of Ma-Han confederacy period in Bongdeok-ri, Gochang, Jeollabuk-do.

In 1944, the United States Postal Service published stamps bearing the pre-1905 flag image of Korea.

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For Hangul (한글) readers:
국호 ‘한(韓)’의 유래 담은 가장 오래된 태극기
http://www.koreatimes.com/article/20200806/1322661

To see more Visual History of Korea:
Please visit https://www.kang.org/korea

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