One of my goals in my Interpersonal Communication section is to learn about the cultural aspects of South Korea’s bird, tree, flower, animal, and etc. I wanted to learn about these items because I am aware of these types of symbols that are relevant to the U.S., which is why I was curious to see what these were for South Korea.
Here are some of the symbols of South Korea. The national tree is the pine tree, which in Korean is “so-namu,” and the second part is tree in Korean. The national flower is the “moo-goong-hwa,” which is a Hibiscus syriacus aka the Korean rose. The official bird is the magpie, while the national animal itself is a little complicated. There is a myth and a longer story that is associated with the national animal, which I can expand on through a future cultural post!
In comparison, the national tree, flower, and bird of the U.S. is the oak tree, rose, and bald eagle, respectively. The most similar symbol is the national flower because it seems to both be in the category of roses, which is really interesting to learn! The other two symbols are not that similar because there are two completely different types of trees and birds. Overall, it was really cool to look at these similarities and differences between the symbols!
Comments
Haha yes, that is a good point! But, I also explain in a future post about a tiger vs. bear myth that can also contribute to the discussion about the national animal. Feel free to read that one too, but you are right in that it is technically the tiger!
Wow I never knew what Korean national tree and bird were! As for the national animal, isn't it tiger? Ever since I was growing up, I always thought of Korea's national animal as a tiger because if you look at the Korean national soccer team, there's a tiger along with the red devil. Also, a lot of the national Tae Kwon Do teams use the mascot as a tiger.