Sorry, HYBE: It wasn’t you who coined “Borahae.” It was Kim Taehyung, best known as V of BTS. And the whole world knows it.
(Even the non-ARMY who know V as the “guy on the Right,” or “guy next to Ariana,” or the “guy in the red bandana” know that the sweet, infamous phrase meaning “I purple you” — or BTS‘ way of saying “I love you” — was created by the dashing debonair.)
So that’s why when the group’s label HYBE tried to trademark and obtain the rights to the purple saying last summer (June 2021), it was rejected by the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO).
According to a recent report from Naver via Soompi, it was revealed KIPO stated HYBE Corporation “applied for trademark rights even though they know that it is a trademark used by V.” Rejecting the trademark application was done in “the principles of good faith” knowing “HYBE is not V” and the music giant has “a partnership and employer-employee relationship with Kim Tae Hyung.”
The phrase “BORAHAE” first made its appearance in a BTS fan meeting back in November 2016, when V used it as a way to express love and adoration to their fans, ARMY. The message is simple yet incredibly wholesome: “Just as purple is the last color of the rainbow, I will trust and love you until the very end.”