No, I haven’t found anywhere that says a tricyle is a Korean symbol, but I wanted to work in the fact that my son taught himself to ride his tricycle and I couldn’t come up with a good way to do it. So, I’m just throwing it into the beginning of a totally unrelated topic.

National Flower – Rose of Sharon (Mugunghwa)

I’ve seen this flower before, but I never knew what it was called. I’m not much of a botanist. In fact, due to my allergies, I generally avoid flowers. Of course, my dislike of getting my hands dirty (literally) does not help my gardening skills. A line was even written into the Korean national anthem “Mugunghwa samcheolli hwaryeo gangsan" which is roughly translated to “Rose of Sharon, thousand miles of beautiful mountain and river land!"

The Great Seal – Guksae

The seal is used on all important documents. According to Korea.net:

The handle of the new national great seal is a modernistic sculpture of a pair of phoenix about to take flight with a rose of Sharon, the national flower, in its beak. It symbolizes the wish for Korea to become a central nation in the world in the 2000s, with national fortunes rising like the flight of the phoenix. The Korean letters for the Republic of Korea are carved in Hangeul in honor of King Sejong the Great, who had his scholars develop Hangeul.

The National Emblem

Adopted in 1963, the National Emblem appears on all important documents. According to Korea.net:

It symbolizes “a state's authority, an organization, or a family. The Korean national emblem is represented by as the shape of the rose of Sharon encircling the Taegeuk circle.”

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