:topic: OFF-TOPIC :topic: Thanks, JD, as I admit I had limited my examples to what I found on Wicked Pædia. And while the FotW portal (Flags of the World) is an excellent site for info concerning flags, including historical references, the vexillologists fell a little short on this one IMO, as they seemed confused by the fact that when all 8 trigrams were utilized, why the trigrams opposing one another (i.e. the N/S, NE/SW, etc. pairs) weren't inverse images of each other in all cases (only the FuXi orientation is perfectly balanced, as the king Wen orientation is skewed to represent man's interference with nature). Anyone who had ever cracked open the I Ching would be aware of this, and why those commenting on FotW are so perplexed by the king Wen placement. Although I've seen the mistake before, the term "wind rose" is used instead of the more correct "compass rose" when commenting on the trigrams and the image presented by Mark Sensen erroneously put 'north' at the top of a FuXi layout (when it should be 'south' at the top). Both the red/white/gold flag with green rampart-like frill along the edge as well as the eagle postage stamp image uses the king Wen layout of trigrams. The Hamburg consulate flag uses the FuXi layout but also has an up/down sine wave separator as well as the less swirly form of the taegeuk which uses a side-by-side orientation (note that an up/down sinewave separator creates a CW spin, while a down/up sinewave separator creates a CCW spin). But some of those variations with all 8 trigrams are interesting, like for instance the fact that blue/red/gold (the 3 primary colors which koreans are so fond of) was used in that Hamburg consulate flag and the 'original' taegeuk spherical image appeared in that flag with the green-frilled edge (i.e. the bull's-eye with a Harvey Dent complex). Despite several accounts that assert variability for which trigrams went in which corner, or for the configuration of the the taegeuk in the center (more or less swirly, up/down or down/up sinewave separator, side-by-side orientation or one atop the other and if one atop the other, which color is on top), I feel the U.S. commemorative postage stamp is probably the most accurate. FotW depiction - U.S. postage stamp I'm pretty sure while which trigram went in which corner may have been more arbitrary, I doubt that the blue (representing yin/eum) would've been placed on top of the red (which represents yang). I'm also thinking that the trigrams of those older flags were only done in blue for the sake of simplicity (inking in only TWO colors instead of THREE when printing the flag). I also feel that the FotW depiction of the M*A*S*H version (TV show) may be flawed as well, as having the trigrams pushed way into the corners doesn't coincide with other accounts (though it could be possible for a home-made flag). FWIW, here's a nice example of a 'construction sheet' version: And if anyone is wondering why only 4 of the 8 trigrams are used in the current design, my guess is that it hinges on the perception of how the cosmos evolved. Using simplistic line drawings (solid lines = YANG and broken lines = YIN), the 2 forces combine in dual fashion (i.e. digrams) in one of four ways, and combine in triple fashion (i.e. trigrams) in one of eight ways. Thus, by using trigrams in the flag design, it hints at the extension of the concept (including the 64 hexagrams and beyond), but by using only four trigrams (which are obvious extensions of the 4 digrams), the evolution process gets highlighted. Here's some images which sorta explain this reasoning. EDIT: You could very well be right. Below find the Joseon seal/coat-of-arms and the Yi family crest (left to right):
Without going into the technical explanation of creation of the Eum-Yang/Yin-Yang symbol, let me say this would be the proper orientation. If someone wants some evidence to this, I will post how it is created which thereby dictates its orientation.
Its interesting what you find when you let Google do the digging for you According to http://hanopolis.com/?articleNo=28937&/story/Koreas-oldest-national-flag this is the oldest extant Korean flag This (from http://orientem.blogspot.com/2006/07/its-grand-old-flag.html ) looks pretty aged as well -- though as it appears to have been purchased in Chile theres no guarantee of authenticity This http://blogs.koreanclass101.com/blog/2008/12/23/the-other-red-white-and-blue-the-south-korean-flag/ has an attempt at explaining the symbols And this page http://sanstep.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html shows a transation of the compass rose All this is way beyond me - so don't expect any facts from this direction. I just thought these interesting in view of whats already been said as - to me at least - some of it seems totally contradictory
