New England Tae Kwon Do of Connecticut
	The Korean and American flags
	The national flag of the United States of America is known as the Stars and Stripes. The union consists of white stars, the ancient symbol of sovereignty, against a blue background. There are as many stars as there are states in the United States. The field of the flag consists of seven red stripes separated by six white stripes. The thirteen stripes represent the original thirteen colonies that declared their independence from Great Britain in 1776. Congress chose the same colors for the great seal of the United States in 1782. It was indicated that the red stood for hardiness and valor, the white for purity and innocence, and the blue for vigilance, perseverance, and justice. The Korean Flag symbolically encourages the mind to observe and interpret the varied meanings of the universe. The circle represents the Absolute, or the essential unity of all being. The Yang (positive) and Yin (negative) divisions within the circle represent eternal duality: heaven and earth, fire and water, good and evil, male and female, night and day, dark and light, life and death, being and not being. The four trigrams surrounding the Tae Kuk also carry the idea of opposites and of balance. The three unbroken lines stand for heaven, opposite this is the trigram for earth, three broken lines. At the upper right hand corner of the flag are two lines with an unbroken line between symbolizing water. Opposite is the symbol for fire. The three aspects of a nation are the land, the people, and the government. These are symbolized on the Tae Kuk: the white ground represents the land, the circle represents the people, and the four sets of bars represent the government.