A Study on the Types, Sizes and Materials of Honor Guard Flags for the Crown Prince in the late Joseon Period

Abstract

The study aims to examine the types, sizes and materials of honor guard flags for the Crown Prince in the Late Joseon based on “Crown Prince Munhyo’s Chaekrye Dogam Uigwe.” The findings are as follows: As the records on honor guard flags in Crown Prince Munhyo’s Chaekrye Dogam Uigwe specify the types, quantities and usage of materials, it is considered to be a valuable document that can be referenced for the purpose of reproducing the flags of honor for the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince’s honor guard flags include a total of ten flags of six different types, featuring Giringi, Baektaekgi, Hyeonhakgi, Baekhakgi, Gaguiseoningi and Yeongjagi. Yeongjagi takes the shape of a right-angled trapezoid, and the remainder take the form of a rectangle. Excluding the Yeongjagi, the background of the five honor guard flags is white. The collar is black, the tail is red and the tied string is red against the background of icons. Yeongjagi has a red collar against the red background where a Chinese character “令(Young)” is written in black, and it takes the form of a right-angled trapezoid. By size, Yeongjagi is a small flag, while the other flags are medium-sized. The background of the medium sized flags is 167.3 to 196.8 ㎝ in width and 148 to 164.5 ㎝ in length. The upper edge of the Yeongjagi is 162.4 ㎝ in width, its lower edge is 103.3 ㎝ in width, and its length is 98.7 ㎝. The flags are made with Jeongju, a kind of silk. Ten types of pigments were used to draw the icons on the background. The handle was made with a medium-sized bamboo pole painted in black, and the top of the handle, which was made with a piece of walnut wood, was painted in red. The storage case for an honor guard flag was made with blue cotton, and the rain cover for an honor guard flag was made with thick oilpaper.