All About The North Korean Flag

Did you know that there is name for the flag of North Korea that is used only in the South?

And did you know that waving a North Korean flag in South Korea is a punishable act?

In this article, we will learn some interesting facts about the flag of North Korea – its history, the meaning behind it, and recent controversies.

ORIGINS & HISTORY OF THE NORTH KOREAN FLAG

Kim Il-sung In Front Of The Taegeukigi, Before The Creation Of The North Korean Flag / Kim Jong-un In Front Of The North Korean Flag At The Summit With The US

From the liberation of Korea in 1945 until July 24, 1948, the Taegukgi – which we today recognize as the national flag of South Korea – was used across the whole Korean peninsula.

Then, in 1948, the North and the South set up independent governments.

When establishing his government, the leader Kim Il-sung believed that they needed a new national flag, and after discussions with the Soviets, a new flag was designed by Moscow. 

Photo From Labor Day In North Korea, 1948. In The Background, Portraits Of Stalin And Kim Il-sung, As Well As The Taegukgi, The National Flag Of South Korea.

The story behind the new flag was made known by Park Il, an interpreter who was dispatched from the Soviet Union to help out with the creation of the flag.

The New Flag Was Adopted And Hoisted During The 5th People's Assembly Of North Korea

According to Park Il, North Korea had been planning on abolishing the Taegeukgi and create a flag unique to North Korea already in 1947, on the grounds that the old flag was not “fitting with North Korea's new democracy.”

THE OFFICIAL NAME OF THE NORTH KOREAN FLAG

Although most of us refer to the country simply as “North Korea”, the official name is “Democratic People's Republic of Korea”.

The part “People's Republic” is In-min Gong-hwa (인민공화) in Korean, and using a shortened form of this, the North Korean flag is referred to as In-gong-gi (the suffix “gi” meaning flag).

Interestingly, this name is only used in South Korea.

In North Korea, the flag is known as Hongram Ogakbyeol-gi (홍람오각별기), or “the blue and red flag with a five-pointed star”.

North Koreans also refer to their flag as the “the flag of the Republic” (공화국기 – Gonghwa Gugki). Similarly, North Koreans routinely call their country simply “The Republic” (공화국 – Gonghwa-guk).

THE DESIGN OF THE FLAG

The flag of North Korea has blue stripes on the top and bottom, with a wide red panel between them, separated by narrow white stripes. In the panel is a white circle with a red star within it. Let's look at the meaning of the flag.

1. Blue background
Blue is said to symbolize hope for sovereignty and peace.

2. Red panel
Red symbolizes communism, revolution and the Juche ideology.

3. White circles and red stars
The white circle stands for light and balance in the universe (yin-yang), and the red star within it symbolizes the construction of communism.
The red star also serves as a symbol of the North Korean military.

Height to width at a proportion of 1:2, the design of the flag can be seen above.

The flag’s official colors are #024FA2 (red), #ED1C27 (blue), #FFFFFF (white).

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU WAVE A NORTH KOREAN FLAG IN THE SOUTH?

In the past, the flag of North Korea was not treated as an official national flag in South Korea. This is because the South regarded the North as a national-level illegal organization that unlawfully occupied the northern territory.

Furthermore, just a few decades ago, people would be charged with violating the National Security Law for printing the North Korean flag.

And although South Koreans’ perception of North Korea has since changed, to this day you must be able to explain yourself if you are caught with possessing or waving a North Korean flag.

A North Korean Flag Is Confiscated From A Canadian Man Durin The PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics

It is well worth noting that foreigners in South Korea can also be investigated and be targets of legal punishment if they use the flag of North Korea or express support to North Korea by the use of it. 

In a recent case, a Canadian man who waving a North Korean flag at the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games in 2018 had the flag confiscated by Korean security personnel. 

WHEN CAN THE NORTH KOREAN FLAG BE USED IN THE SOUTH?

So is the use of the North Korean flag strictly prohibited in South Korea? Well, not always.

As a rule of thumb, the use or even the possession of flag of North Korea may be punishable, but there are exceptions to the rule.

(Similarly, in North Korea, anyone discovered to be in possession of the South Korean flag, the Taegeukgi, is said to face severe punishment.)

Next we will take a look at when the use of the North Korean flag was or is allowed in the South. 

1. Anti-communist education between the 60s and 80s

For example, media was allowed to use the North Korean flag for anti-communist education and propaganda between the 1960s and 80s.

Although anti-communist education is no longer taught today, at the time North Korea's provocations were more frequent, and the use of the flag of North Korea was allowed so people would be able to recognize it in case of an invasion from the North. 

The picture above is from “Spy Catcher General Ttori” (간첩잡는 똘이 장군), a popular animation in the 1970s.

In the animation, North Korea is portrayed as a red pig in an attempt to instill young children with negative perceptions of North Korea.

2.  During sport events

North Korean Cheerleaders At The 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics

When South Korea hosts major sports events, such as the Olympics and Asian Games, they will display the flags of all participating countries in the sport venues.

Consequently, if North Korea is competing in the events, they will also display the flag of North Korea.

In recent history, North Korea participated in events such as the 2002 Busan Asian Games, the 2003 Daegu Summer Universiade, the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, and the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics & Paralympics, and during these events the North Korean flag was displayed together with the flags of other participating countries.

When a North Korean athlete won the gold medal at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, the North Korean flag was hoisted at the medal ceremony, and the national anthem of North Korea was even played.

This is said to have been the first time that the national anthem of North Korea was officially played in South Korea!

However, the North Korean flag would cause controversy at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games.

During the games, flags of the participating countries were hung not only at official venues, but also in the streets of Incheon, and among these flags North Korea’s could be found.

However, some groups with an antipathy to North Korea protested this, and North Korea’s flag was taken down from the streets.

This, however, caused a new controversy, eventually leading to the city removing all the flags from the streets! 

Although the use of the North Korean flag may be temporarily permitted during sports events, other use of it in South Korea is prohibited according to the National Security Law, and violating the law may lead to punishment.  

3. In media 

In the past, media in South Korea would often replace the North Korean flag with a plain red one.

These days, however, movies, dramas, or news that deal with the Korean War or other topics related to North Korea may be allowed to show the flag, with the argument that it is the people's right to know.

In these cases, the flag can be used temporarily after obtaining special permission from a government agency such as the Ministry of Unification, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, or the Korea Communications Commission.

CONTROVERSIES IN THE SOUTH CONCERNING THE NORTH KOREAN FLAG

As has been mentioned earlier, North Korea remains a sensitive topic in South Korea, and their flag is still rarely seen in games, movies, education and more.  

However, there have been some cases when controversy occurred after the use of the North Korean flag. Here are some of the recent cases.

1. Steel Rain

In 2017, North Korean flags, posters and various other propaganda materials were installed at the Daegu National Science Museum in Daegu.

People who witnessed it were shocked by the unfamiliar sight, and conservative groups got ready to start protests and demonstrations.

However, it turned out that it was a temporary installation made for the filming of Steel Rain, a fictional story dealing with tensions between the two countries.

Since it was out of the question to shoot in North Korea, they instead choose the museum in Daegu as location, and the propaganda material was soon removed after the filming was completed. Although a hot topic at the time, it eventually concluded without any major protests.  

2. EBS Media 

In November 2018, EBS Media, a subsidiary of the Korean educational broadcasting company EBS, launched a series of build-it-yourself characters meant for educational purposes.

The set included the leaders of several countries, introducing them as “leaders opening an era of peace on the Korean peninsula”.

The series included Trump, Xi Jinping, Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un, all with a friendly and cute design, making it a highly controversial educational tool.

To make matters worse, a model of the Ryugyong Hotel, a major landmark of North Korea’s capital Pyongyang, came fully equipped with a North Korean flag.

The use of the flag, prohibited unless special permission has been given, further increased protests, eventually leading to the resignation of the CEO of EBS Media.

THE KOREAN UNIFICATION FLAG

As we have seen, the two Koreas have different national flags.

However, in recent times the Korean Unification Flag has been used at several occasions, for example during the Olympic opening ceremony and when the two Koreas have competed as a single team during sport events.

The Korean Unification Flag symbolizes a unified Korea and is not an official national flag.

The Korean Unification Flag was created in 1989 during discussions between the two Koreas of competing under the same flag as a single team at the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing.

From 1989 to 1990, there were working-level meetings between the North and the South on six occasions. 

During the meetings, the South Korean side insisted on a green silhouette of the Korean Peninsula on a white background, with “KOREA” written on it.

However, the North Korean side instead insisted on a reddish-brown peninsula on a white background with the text “KORYO” rather than “KOREA”.  

As a result of the negotiations, “Korea” was picked as the official name of the single team. But any text was omitted from the flag, which ended up being a sky blue Korean Peninsula on a white background. 

Athletes Of The South Korean And North Korean Teams During The 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics

After its inception, the Korean Unification Flag was used during the 1991 World Table Tennis Championships in Chiba, Japan. In addition to sport events, it has become a symbolic flag that is often used in inter-Korean events.

Some major events in which the flag was used include the joint entrance at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the inter-Korean summits in 2000 and 2007, and the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

In this article, we took at look at the national flag of North Korea, learning about its meaning, design, controversies and more.

We also have an article about the South Korean flag, the Taegeukgi, that you should check out!