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Yellow paper, red ink: colors and symbols

Last updated: 2026-11-08

Even if you can’t read a single character, a Korean talisman is easy to recognize: a narrow strip of yellow paper, covered in bold red strokes. Both colors were chosen for a reason.

Yellow paper

In the East Asian theory of the five elements (오행), yellow belongs to earth and the center — the stable point that holds everything else in place. It was also a color associated with royalty and with light, and it was thought to be something bad spirits avoided. Traditional talisman paper was dyed with the flowers of the pagoda tree, giving it a warm, slightly orange yellow.

Red ink

The red came from cinnabar (주사, jusa), a mineral ground into ink. Red is the color of fire, the sun and yang energy, and in Korean folk custom it is the color that drives away misfortune. You can see the same idea in other traditions: on the winter solstice, many Korean families still eat patjuk, a red bean porridge, partly because its red color was said to keep evil spirits away. The red seal stamped on documents and paintings carries some of the same sense of authority.

Characters and strokes

Traditional talismans often use Chinese characters drawn in unusual ways: stretched, stacked, joined together into new shapes that look like writing but can’t be read as ordinary text. This made them feel powerful and mysterious. Our talismans follow the same idea with a script of their own, Yeongbumun (영부문): each character of your wish becomes a new, hanja-like character assembled from two or three radicals — water, fire, tree, heart and so on. The same sound looks different every time, so the writing can’t be read without the talisman’s key. The wish you chose sits on top, the start of your sentence runs down the middle, and the rest fills the columns to the right, to the left and along the bottom.

Symbols on our talismans

Each talisman made here has an ornament at the top and a symbol near the bottom, chosen to suit the wish. They draw on images that appear throughout Korean folk art.

Sun
Brightness, warmth and yang energy — a clear road ahead. Used for career, wealth and new beginnings.
Moon
Calm, gentleness and togetherness. The full moon is the traditional moon to make a wish on in Korea. Used for love and family.
Stars
In Korean folk belief, the seven stars of the Big Dipper (칠성) watch over long life and the health of children. Used for exams and protection.
Clouds
One of the ten symbols of long life (십장생), along with the sun, mountains, water, rocks, pine trees, turtles, cranes, deer and the mushroom of immortality. Used for health and friendship.
Mountains
Steadiness and endurance — something that doesn’t move, whatever the weather. Used for peace of mind.
Knot
Inspired by 매듭 (maedeup), Korean decorative knotwork, in which a single cord is tied into a shape that doesn’t easily come undone. A natural symbol for bonds between people.
Coin
Old Korean coins were round with a square hole: round for heaven, square for earth. A symbol of prosperity.
Gate
A gateway to pass through. Koreans call a hard-won entry to success 등용문, “the dragon’s gate,” after an old story of a carp that leapt a waterfall and became a dragon. Used for exams.

The seal

In the lower corner, a red square seal shows the animal of your birth year in the Korean zodiac. Seals have long served as signatures in Korea — even today many people register a personal seal for official documents — so stamping one is a way of saying “this is mine.” Find your animal →

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