clan, ethnicity

族 is composed of a variant of 㫃 (flutter) and 矢 (arrow). 㫃 depicts the appearance of banners and flags fluttering on a pole, while 矢 is a pictograph of an arrow. Therefore, 族 conveys the idea of many people holding arrows and gathering under a banner to resist external aggression. Its original meaning is to gather or assemble, but this sense was later taken over by the character 簇. Groups that share common attributes, driven by shared interests, will gather together to resist those outside their group, and this is also expressed by 族.