Flag of Sri Lanka
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Flag ratio: 1:2
The Flag of Sri Lanka, also called the Lion Flag, consists of gold lion passant, holding a sword in its right fore paw, in front of a crimson background with four golden bo leaves in each corner. Around the background is a yellow border, and to its left are 2 vertical stripes of equal size in saffron and green, with the saffron stripe closest to the lion.
It was adopted in 1950 following the recommendations of a committee appointed by the 1st Prime Minister of Sri Lanka D.S. Senanayake.
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[edit] Symbolism
The National Flag of Sri Lanka represents the country and its heritage as rallying device that integrates the minorities with the majority race.
Most symbols in the flag have distinctive meanings.
| Symbol | Represents |
|---|---|
| The lion | The Sinhalese race |
| The bo leaves | Buddhism and its influence on the nation. They also stand for the four virtues of Kindness, Friendliness, Happiness and Equanimity. |
| The sword of the lion | The sovereignty of the nation |
| The tail of the lion | The noble eight fold path of Buddhism |
| The curly hair on the lion's head | Religious observance, wisdom and meditation |
| The beard of the lion | Purity of words |
| The handle of the sword | The elements of water, fire, air and earth |
| The nose of the lion | Intelligence |
| The two front paws of the lion | Purity in handling wealth. |
| The vertical orange stripe | The Tamil race |
| The vertical green stripe | The Muslim race |
| The border round the flag | Other minor races. |
| The crimson background | Other minor religions |
[edit] History
When Vijaya, the first King of the Sinhalese people, arrived in Sri Lanka in 486 BCE, he brought with him a flag with a symbol of a lion on it. Since then the Lion symbol played a significant role in the history of Sri Lanka. It was used extensively by monarchs who followed Vijaya and it became a symbol of freedom and hope. When the legendary King Dutugemunu embarked on the campaign in which he defeated of the Indian King Elara, who had occupied part of Sri Lanka, and thereby united of Sri Lanka, he carried with him a banner which portrayed a lion carrying a sword on his right forepaw along with two other symbols, the Sun and the Moon.
The last Sri Lankan King to use the flag was King Sri Vikrama Rajasinghe, who was also the last King of Sri Lanka. When his reign was brought to an end by the British in 1815, they proclaimed King George III as King of Ceylon and replaced the Lion flag with the Union Jack as the national flag of Ceylon, government of British Ceylon used its own flag. The Lion Flag was taken to England and kept at the Royal Military Hospital in Chelsea. As the years passed design of the flag was soon forgotten by the Sri Lankan public.
Then, as the independence movement in Sri Lanka gained strength in the early 20th Century, E. W. Perera, a prominent figure of the independence movement, discovered the original Lion flag in Chelsea. A picture of it was subsequently published in a special edition of the Dinamina newspaper to mark 100 years since the end of Sri Lankan independence. The Lion flag then became a centre piece of attraction to the public, who for the first time since the fall of the Kandyan Kingdom were now aware of its actual design.
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