Sri Lanka - National Flag

National Flag

National Flag of Sri Lanka is the lion flag. A lion holding a sword in his right hand is depicted in gold on red background with a yellow border. Four Bo leaves inwards are at the four corners. Two vertical bands of green and orange at the mast end represent the minority ethnic groups. It is an adaptation of the standard of the last king of Sri Lanka.

The first Prime Minister of independent Sri Lanka, D.S.Senanayake, appointed a committee to advice the government on the design of a new national flag. The design approved by the committee in February 1950 retained the symbol of the lion with the sword and the bo-leaves from the civil standard of the last king of Sri Lanka, with the inclusion of two verticle stripes green and orange in color. the significance of each symbol of the national flag is as follows:

* The lion in the flag represents the Sinhala race.
* The sword of the lion represents the sovereignty of the country.
* The noble eight fold path of Buddhism is signified by the lion's tail.
* Curly hair on the lion's head indicates religious observance, wisdom and meditation.
* The beard denotes purity of words.
* The handle of the sword highlights the elements of water, fire, air and earth.
* The nose indicates intelligence.
* The two front paws purport to purity in handling wealth.
* The verticle stripe of orange represent the minority Tamil race and the green verticle stripe the minority Muslim race.
* The four virtues of kindness: KINDNESS, FRIENDLINESS, HAPPINESS, EQUANIMITY are also represented in the flag.
* The border round the flag, which is yellow in color, represents other minor races.
* The bo-leaves at the four corners of the flag represent Buddhism and it's influence on the nation. They also stand for the four virtues - Kindness, Friendliness, Happiness and Equanimity.
* The maroon colored portion of the flag manifests the other minor religions.

The national flag was hoisted for the first time on March 3, 1950.