Flag of Sri Lanka

Use	Civil and state flag and civil ensign
Proportion	1:2
Adopted	May 22, 1972
Design	Dark red rectangular panel bordered yellow containing a yellow lion holding a sword upright in its right fore paw, and four pipul leaves, one in each corner, and next to the hoist two vertical stripes, green and orange, also bordered yellow together.
Use	Naval ensign
Proportion	1:2
Adopted	1972
Design	White with the national flag in the canton.

The Flag of Sri Lanka, also called the Lion Flag, consists of a gold lion, 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. The lion represents bravery, and the four bo leaves represent meththa, karuna, muditha and upeksha. The orange stripe represents the Sri Lankan Tamils, the green stripe represents Sri Lankan Moors, the crimson background represents European Burghers and is also a reference to the rich colonial background of the country and the yellow border represents other ethnic groups such as Sri Lankan Malays etc.

It was adopted in 1950 following the recommendations of a committee appointed by the 1st Prime Minister of Ceylon, The Rt Hon D.S. Senanayake.

Contents 1 History 2 Symbolism 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

[edit] History

When Vijaya, the first King of the island of Sri Lanka, arrived in Sri Lanka from India 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 King Vijaya and it became a symbol of freedom and hope. When the legendary King Dutugemunu embarked on the campaign in which he defeated the Tamil King Elara, who had occupied part 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 banner was in use until 1815, when the reign of the last king of the Kandyan Kingdom, King Sri Vikrama Rajasinha, was brought to an end with the Kandyan nobility's signing of the Kandy convention on 2 March proclaiming King George III as King of Ceylon and replacing the Lion flag with the Union Flag as the national flag of Ceylon. The government of British Ceylon used its own flag. The Lion Flag was taken to England and kept at the Royal Hospital Chelsea. As the years passed, the design of the flag was 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 with the help of D. R. Wijewardene, the press baron, 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 centrepiece of attraction to the public, who for the first time since the fall of the Kandyan Kingdom were now aware of its actual design.

In 1948 the flag was adapted as the national flag of the Dominion of Ceylon, however the flag underwent several changes in 1953 and again in 1972. During the same year four leaves of the Bo tree were added to the four corners of the Sri Lankan National flag under the direction of Nissanka Wijeyeratne. At the time, he was Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and Chairman of the National Emblem and Flag Design Committee. Prior to 1972, the corners of the flag were occupied by symbols depicting spearheads. The four Bo Leaves added by Wijeyeratne reflect the core principles of Mettha (loving kindness), Karuna (compassion), Upeksha (equanimity) & Muditha (happiness).^[1][2]

[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 been given distinctive meanings.

Symbol	Represents
The lion	The Sinhalese ethnicity and the strength of the nation.
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 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 ethnicity
The vertical green stripe	The Muslim faith and Moor ethnicity
The yellow border round the flag	People from other cultures living in Sri Lanka
The crimson background	Other minor religions and ethnic groups, Portuguese/Dutch Burghers. Also refers to the rich colonial heritage and background of the country.

[edit] See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Flags of Sri Lanka

• List of Sri Lankan flags

[edit] References

• Sri Lanka Government Web Portal
• Lanka Library
• The Sri Lankan Lion flag -how it came to be

[edit] External links

• Lion Flag as depicted in the Constitution of Sri Lanka

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