Official symbol
Official bird of the City – Seagull
- This bird portrays the image of a seaside city, and it is one of the Pohang′s eight famous sceneries, symbolizing the great love for the city.
- Their tendency to live in groups, represents the diligence, industriousness and unity of the citizens, and the progressive civil spirit.
- They embody the strong will and grand ideals of the citizens, who live in the vast expanse of the ocean filled with wild waves. They are always clean and dignified, leaving us with the feeling of affection towards them.
Official flower of the City – Rose
- Rose is a perennial plant which symbolizes passionate love and beauty.
- Its beauty and fragrance embodies love and it represents the wish that the citizens will be generous and giving.
- It depicts the passion of the citizens, that is just like the red-hot burning furnace of a steel city leaping towards the global stage.
Official tree of the City – Black Pine Tree
- It is an evergreen needle-leaf tree, which grows by the seaside, hence the name beach pine tree. It is also known as black pine and is a local plant found throughout the East Sea coast.
- It is an evergreen, maintaining its greenness and freshness for thousands of years while overcoming any hard rain, wind, and storm the nature might present, hence symbolizing the adamant endurance and bravery of the citizens.
- It lives for more than 300 years and has a magnificent appearance and masculine beauty compared to regular pine trees. It is considered as a symbol of integrity and high principle, and is one of the oldest plant species on earth, hence symbolizing the eternal growth of our city.
City Fish – Herring
- Herring is a saltwater fish from the herring genus of the family Clupeidae in the order Clupeiformes.
- Its belly is silvery white with a light black or bluish back.
- It is a representative cold-sea fish with high industrial value.
- Yeongil Bay has been a spawning ground for herring since ancient times, so this species was a major driving force in the development of Pohang with modern fishing boats being utilized in earnest in the early to mid-1900s.
- Herring accounted for 60% to 70% of the herring distribution market throughout Joseon at the time.
- It is the first base material for gwamegi (half-dried herring) coming from Yeongil Bay, Pohang, and Pohang’s representative marine product that embodies the region’s history and civic sentiment.
