Sujagi


The Sujagi is a flag with a Hanja 帥, pronounced su in Korean, that denotes a commanding general. The whole term literally means, "Commanding general 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.
. Shown with it are United States Marines Corporal Charles Brown, Private Hugh Purvis, and Captain McLane Tilton.|330x330px
aboard USS Colorado''. From right to left: U.S. Marine Corporal Charles Brown, U.S. Marine Private Hugh Purvis, and the sailor on the left is believed to be Cyrus Hayden. All three were awarded the Medal of Honor.

History

This type of flag was put in a fortress where a commanding general was located. 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. 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 South Korea on a long-term, ten-year loan. It is currently housed at the National Palace Museum of Korea in Seoul.