The purpose of this study is to observe the history of the symbolic representation of educational institution and how they were changed with time. School symbol represents educational philosophy of a school and distinguishes a school from another. More specifically, the symbols are the visual output of the attempting students’ sense of identity and belonging. To explore the origin of school symbols, changes in the formal quality of school symbols in modern Joseon is reviewed. And the study observes different cases of how these visual symbols were reproduced in the field of education as well as in the society after Korean liberation.
Creation of school symbol was natural in the context of national modernization. The culture of ‘symbol’(for identity), not ‘patterns’(for decorating), began to formulate. And the change of clothes made easier accepting and naturalizing of ‘modern symbol’s’ form in the colonial daily life. School clothes were changed to uniform style around March First Movement in 1919. The school clothes of western uniform style matched badges- the modern thing- well. And, through becoming imperial subjects in the educational field of in the Japanese ruling period, school symbols functioned as a daily medium to utilize and control human resources efficiently.
As Japan rushed into wartime system after Sino-Japanese War in 1937, school symbols were revised towards strengthening Japanese intentions. Nationalist educators and students found their own ways to fight back at the idea of Japanese Imperialism by adroitly reveling national or imperial symbols of Daehan empire that had existed before on the school emblems. That is, school symbols were a thing with which governing group and governed group conflicted with each other under special background of colony. However, in a country without any distinctive visual system, school symbols may have had a significant meaning, yet its form have adopted Japanese traditional motives or motives that were used in the militarism. The change of Songdo school’s emblem shows that the motif with patriotic meaning hid behind the similar form of colonial ruling country’s symbol, in the situation of the modern visual system were not established yet. As school symbols are created and perceived s a part of a students’ life, these formal qualities became the prominent style of Korean’s school symbols.
Even after the liberation of Korea, Japanese style visual form could be observed throughout the symbols of schools, local government, and corporates. School symbol showed continuation of familiar design formality rather than disclosing educational philosophy of a school.