Sujagi

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Sujagi
Captured Sujagi
Korean name
Hangul	수자기
Hanja	帥字旗
Revised Romanization	Sujagi
McCune–Reischauer	Sujagi

The Sujagi is a flag with a Chinese character, pronounced su in Korean, that denotes a commanding general. The whole term literally means, "Commanding general character flag". Only one sujagi is known to exist in Korea. The color is a faded yellowish-brown background with a black character in its center. It is made of hemp cloth and measures approximately 4.15m x 4.35m.^[1]

[edit] History

This type of flag was put in a fortress where a commanding general was located.^[2] In the case of the extant sujagi in Korea, it represented General Eo Jae-yeon who, in 1871, commanded the Korean military forces on Ganghwa Island, which is off the northwest coast of present-day South Korea, nearby the capital of Seoul. It was captured by the United States Asiatic Squadron in June of that year during the United States' expedition to Korea.^[3] As with other war prizes, it was put into the collection of the museum at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

In October 2007, after many years of petitioning the United States government, the flag was returned to Korea on a long-term, ten-year loan. It is currently housed at the National Palace Museum of Korea in Seoul.^[4]

A captured Sujagi aboard USS Colorado June 1871. From right to left: Corporal Charles Brown (USMC) and Private Hugh Purvis (USMC); the sailor on the left is believed to be Cyrus Hayden (USN).

[edit] Notes

[edit] See also

• History of Korea
• Military history of Korea
• Joseon Dynasty