National Seal of the Republic of Korea 대한민국의 국새 | |
---|---|
Armiger | South Korea |
Adopted | 25 October 2011 |
Motto | 대한민국 |
The National Seal of the Republic of Korea ( Korean: 대한민국의 국새) is a governmental seal used for purposes of state in South Korea. [1] [2] The seal is carved with characters called injang. [1]
Since the late 20th century the seal's design consists of South Korea's official name written in hangul inside of a square; during the mid-20th century Chinese characters were used.
Following the establishment of the South Korean state in August 1948, its government adopted in May 1949 a new state seal, or guksae ( Korean: 국새). It is used in promulgation of constitutions, designation of cabinet members and ambassadors, conference of national orders and important diplomatic documents. [3]
The seal's design has been modified multiple times over the years. The first version of the seal, used until the early 1960s, used Hanja characters. [3] In the late 20th century, the lettering was changed to use only Korean characters. [3]
The current seal is the fifth version and was designed in September 2011, being adopted in October 2011. [3]