The kanji 肇 generally conveys the meaning of "beginning," "start," or "initiation." It suggests the act of initiating something new, commencing a process, or founding an organization or a period. It emphasizes the commencement or the origin of an event or situation.

・On-yomi (音読み): ちょう (chō) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): はじ（まる） (haji(maru)) - to begin, to start.

⚫︎肇国（ちょうこく） Translation: Founding of a country ⚫︎肇端（ちょうたん） Translation: Beginning; origin ⚫︎肇作（ちょうさく） Translation: To initiate; to commence

The kanji 肇 is a 形声文字 (keisei moji), a phonetic-semantic compound character. The left side is 聿(itsu), which functions as the phonetic component, and indicates the sound of the kanji. 聿 pictorially represents a writing brush and it's also related to writing. The right side is 刀 (katana, "sword", or "knife"). The character as a whole possibly means the act of commencing an action with a sharp tool, thus marking the start of something.