Color Belt Symbolism - Black Belt Symbolism

The symbolisms and meanings described below are not necessarily those espoused by Taekwondo America or any other organization. The symbolism and meaning for each belt relate a student's growth in Taekwondo knowledge and skills to the growth of a oak seed into a mighty oak tree.

White Belt

Gup: 11th

Symbolism: Barren

Meaning: The color white symbolizes the purity of barren earth that is willing to accept the oak seed. The white belt represents a student who is empty of Taekwondo knowledge, pure of mind and spirit, and willing to accept the planting of the seed of Taekwondo knowledge. Stripes indicate progress toward yellow belt.

Yellow Belt

Gup: 10th

Symbolism: Oak seed

Meaning: As the oak seed is planted and begins to develop strong roots, it must struggle to reach the surface of the earth where others can see it. The yellow belt represents the student who has developed strong Taekwondo roots, but has unknown potential and requires hard work to develop skills that other can appreciate. Stripes indicate progress toward orange belt.

Orange Belt

Gup: 9th

Symbolism: Pre-emergence

Meaning: As the seedling nears the surface, it reaches the faint light that filters into the earth. It is only a short distance to the surface now. The orange belt represents the student who is almost ready to free-spar. Stripes indicate progress toward green belt.

Green Belt

Gup: 8th 

Symbolism: Emergence

Meaning: The seeding emerges from the earth and finds it is one of many saplings that are struggling for survival. into a strong oak tree with many branches and leaves. The green belt represents the student whose Taekwondo skills are emerging and feels proud of his or her skills but who finds that the skills of fellow students are developing just just as quickly are quicker. 

Senior Green Belt

Gup: 7th 

Symbolism: Growth

Meaning: The seeding starts to grow into an oak tree with many branches and leaves. As the tree begins to absorb sunlight, it starts to bloom and bear fruit. But, although it is a powerful tree, it is still anchored to the earth. The senior green belt represents the student whose Taekwondo skills are growing and branching out, but who still feels anchored and is finding it difficult to move higher.

Blue Belt

Gup: 6th

Symbolism: Sky

Meaning: As the young oak tree grows, it reaches for the freedom of the sky; striving to achieve great heights. The blue belt represents the student who is reaching upward toward the sky, toward higher belts.

Senior Blue Belt

Gup: 5th

Symbolism: Atmosphere

Meaning: As the oak tree continues to grow, it stretches higher into the atmosphere; developing confidence to reach even higher. The senior blue belt represents the student whose skills are increasing to the point that he or she begins to think that black belt is within reach.

Brown Belt

Gup: 4th

Symbolism: Darkened Sky

Meaning: As the oak tree grows toward the atmosphere, it reaches further into the darken sky, the unknown. The brown belt represents the student who dreams of leaving the basic techniques behind and learning more advanced techniques.

Senior Brown Belt

Gup: 3rd

Symbolism: Space

Meaning: As the oak tree continues to grow, it strives to reach into space. The senior brown belt represents the student who dreams of exploring dark depths of the universe for more knowledge. Forms and techniques are becoming more difficult to learn, but the student still dreams of learning the elusive skills of the black belt.

Red Belt

Gup: 2nd

Symbolism: Sun

Meaning: The oak tree strives to reach even higher, to the sun itself, the object it first looked up to when it emerged from the earth. The sun is the symbol of warmth, growth, and life. The red belt represents the student who sees the end in sight and is reaching for the object first seen when entering the study of Taekwondo, the black belt. Red is also the color of blood, the life substance of the living body. Red belts have powerful techniques and limited control of the techniques, so they are dangerous, which sometimes leads to the shedding of red blood.

Senior Red Belt

Gup: 1st

Symbolism: Heat

Meaning: As the oak tree grows higher and closer to the sun, it begins to feel the heat of the sun and it give the tree inspiration to grow higher. The senior red belt represents the student who is so close to attaining black belt that he or she feels it. Red also signifies the danger of a student believing that reaching black belt will complete his or her growth in Taekwondo. 

Probationary Black Belt

Gup: Poom

Symbolism: Darkness

Meaning: Even though the oak tree struggles to leave the earth and reach the heavens, it finds it cannot. It realizes it is rooted to the earth and that its strength comes from its roots. As the oak tree reenters the earth seeking its roots, the light of the sun dims and turns to darkness. The black belt represents the student who, after reach black belt, realizes that the answers to all the questions he or she has been seeking are not at the black belt level, they were always present at the beginning, at their roots, at the white belt level, in the basic techniques of Taekwondo. He or she simply did not know enough at the time to recognize their worth. As the student leaves the safety of the light, or knowledge he or she has attained, to search for the truth in his or her roots, eh or she discovers that even with all he or she knows, there is still the darkness of a greater unknown looming ahead, the first degree black belt. The black belt is the final preparation for first degree black belt.

Color Belt Symbolism - Black Belt Symbolism