The Colors of the Korean people

Have you ever seen Taegeukgi, the national flag of Korea? If so, you should see four colors which are white, black, red, and blue. Taegeukgi is based on white color. There is a large circle in the center of it. The circle is divided into two parts. One part is red, another is blue. Taegeukgi also has the black gwae of four. In this essay, I will talk about three colors. Those are white, blue and red. Each one of them has their meaning. The meaning of colors represents the Korean people. Then, how does it represent them?

First, white color is very important, just as Taegeukgi was based on white. Generally, the Korean people were called “The white-clad folk,” from a long time ago. The word, the white-clad folk, refers to innocence. Moreover, on the national flag of Korea, white represents both land and peace. That is, Korean people respect peace of the world, and white stands for Korea’s territory. According to that meaning, most Koreans like white. They often wear Hanbok, which is traditional Korea clothes, or wear white clothes on the first day of the new years. By wearing white clothes, they want to get a pure, innocent attitude.

Secondly, blue color symbolizes integrity. In the Chosun dynasty period, the scholar, a man of virtue, was represented as a person of integrity. Their goal was living such that they kept their hands clean all their life. In such meaning, they were frequently represented with a blue color. As regards Taegeukgi, blue means shade, water and ground. One of the two parts, blue color, is contrasted with another one, red. The reason is that red means brightness, fire and sky. Taken together, they stand for harmony. Like this, Koreans regard blue as clean and as having integrity.

Thirdly, one of the most important colors is red. Especially, the Korea of today has been represented with a red color because of “The Red Devil.” Red devil is the name of the supporters of the Korean soccer team. The beginning of this title goes back to the FIFA World Youth Championship in Mexico in 1983. Our team advanced to the semifinals. So foreign speeches called them ‘red furies’ with big surprise. Coming in to Korea, it turned to ‘Red Devil’. So now, the day we have a soccer game is a festival in Korea. Many Korean people wear red clothes and they crowd around the city hall or other places for rooting.

In conclusion, many colors are representative of Korea. By using them on the Taegeukgi or wearing clothes on the special day, Koreans want to express their racial characteristics. White is innocence of the white-clad folk. Blue is integrity, and Red symbolizes the passion of the red devil. Everything of them consists in Taegeukgi. The color of Korea has being represented by their behavior and their national flag. In other words, the colors that represent Korea are white, blue, and red.