民族
みんぞく · minzoku · JLPT N1 · noun
people
🚩 民 (people) + 族 (clan, family group) = a people bound together as one clan
族 originally showed a flag over arrows: a unit rallying under one banner. So 民族 is a people gathered under one shared banner of kinship and culture.
族 — banner 㫃 + arrow 矢
族 originally depicted arrows 矢 gathered under a banner 㫃, representing a military unit or clan rallying under one flag. From this image of people united under a common standard, the meaning extended to family, tribe, and ethnic group.