10th Kup White Belt = Low White Belt (solid white belt)

9th Kup White Belt = High White Belt (white belt with one yellow stripe)

White - Signifies innocence, as that of a beginning student who has no previous knowledge of Taekwon-Do. White also signifies "rest" and "thinking" in the Buddhist philosophy and basically the "Asian" cultures also looked at white as also being associated with Children, helpful people, marriage,
mourning, peace, purity, travel. Also associated with learning, knowledge, purity, longevity, and the body part associated with white is the eyes and the element is water.

8th Kup Yellow Belt = Low Yellow Belt (solid yellow belt)

7th Kup Yellow Belt = High Yellow Belt (yellow belt with one green stripe)

Yellow - Signifies the Earth from which a plant sprouts and takes root as the Taekwon-Do foundation is being laid. Yellow stands for restraining and nourishing under Buddhist thought, and in most Asian minds also associated with Against evil, for the dead, geomagnetic blessings.  Rootedness, renunciation, earth and the body associated with yellow is the nose, and the element is the earth.

6th Kup Green Belt = Low Green Belt (solid green belt)

5th Kup Green Belt = High Green Belt (green belt with one blue stripe)

Green - Signifies the plant's growth as the Taekwon-Do skill begins to develop Green means exorcism in Buddhist thought and in Asian society also meant eternity, family, harmony, health, peace, posterity. Balance, vigor, youth, action and is associated with the body part of the head.

4th Kup Blue Belt = Low Blue Belt (solid blue belt)

3rd Kup Blue Belt = High Blue Belt (blue belt with one red stripe)

Blue - Signifies the Heaven, towards which the plant matures into a towering tree as training in Taekwon-Do progresses. Eternity, truth, devotion, faith, purity, chastity, peace, spiritual and intellectual life are associated with Buddhist thought and in most of Asia also Self-cultivation, wealth. Black and blue are sometimes interchangeable and hence why you see MooDukKwan groups using a Navy blue (dark blue) belt for black belt, and blue is also associated with coolness, infinity, ascension, purity, healing, and the element is air.

2nd Kup Red Belt = Low Red Belt (solid red belt)

1st Kup Red Belt = High Red Belt (red belt with one black stripe)

Red - Signifies danger, cautioning the student to exercise control and warning the opponent to stay away. Red under the Buddhist thought means for subjugation and summoning and in Asia in general Happiness, marriage, prosperity. Also meaning life force, preservation, the sacred, blood, fire and the body part associated with red is the tongue and the element is of course fire.

1st - 9th Degree (Dan) Black Belt (solid black belt)

Black - Opposite of white, therefore, signifying the maturity and proficiency in Taekwon-Do.  It also indicates the wearer's imperviousness to darkness and fear. Black symbolizes killing and anger in Buddhism and in Asia cultures also meant Career, evil influences, knowledge, mourning, penance, self-cultivation. Black signifies the primordial darkness. In the realm where it is dark, because there is no light reflected, there is also a sound which we cannot hear as it is so high on the scale of harmonics that it is inaccessible to the hearing capacity of any physical being. The wonders of creation may be manifested through the gradual slowing down of vibrations. The darkness becomes light, the shadows colors, the colors sound, and sound creates form. And is associataed with the element of air like blue.

Classification of black belts:

1st Dan to 3rd Dan is a novice black belt - Pu-Sa-bom-nim (부사범님)

4th Dan to 6th Dan is an expert black belt - Sa-bom-nim (사범님)

7th Dan to 8th Dan is a master black belt - Sa-hyon-nim (사 혼님)

9th Dan is a Grandmaster black belt - Sa-Sang-nim (사성님)

The above colors have not been arbitrarily chosen.  They are, in fact, steeped in tradition.  The colors of black, red and blue denoted the various levels of hierarchy during the Koguryo and Silla Dynasties.  A half black and half white belt is used for the junior black belt holder which is a child up to the age of 13.  Since the moral character emphasized in Taekwon-Do is still at a maturing stage, they are eligible for only first degree.

The width of each belt should be five centimeters (almost 2 inches), and the thickness should be five millimeters (.19 inches).  The distance between the stripe and the end of the belt is five centimeters.  Black Belt ranks are distinguished by Roman numerals on the belt from I Dan to IX Dan.  (There is nothing denoting rather you can or can not put other information, such as your name etc on your belt, however, it is standard to have Taekwon-Do in Korean on one side and your name with the rank on the other.)

Alot have asked weather your name and rank should be on one side or another. While nothing was written about this by Gen. Choi, since he was a man of the military, and beliefs deeply rooted in Confusion beliefs, the left side he considered a position of honor, and so "Taekwon-Do" should be on the left side, and your name and rank on the right.