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| 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 passant 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. |
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| 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 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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History
When Vijaya, the first King of the island of Sri Lanka, 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 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 Indian 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 when the Kandyan nobility signing of the Kandy convention on 2 March thus proclaiming King George III as King of Ceylon and replaced 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 changers in 1953 and again in 1972.
In 2008, the ‘Sri Lanka Janatha Urumayan Surekeeme Jathika Vyaparaya’ in a written representation to President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said that it has been discovered that the royal standard of the Kandyan Kingdom, last used by King Sri Wickrema Rajasinghe, is now in the possession of a British national. The discovery has been made by a former curator of the Kandy National Museum Senarath Panawatte, the letter addressed to the President by Ven. Medagama Dhammananda Thero and S. Liyanage, President and Secretary respectively of the organisation has said. The organisation also made representations to the Chief Minister, Central Province Sarath Ekanayake regarding the importance of the recovery of the flag.
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 ethnicity |
| 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 eightfold 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 ethnicity |
| The vertical green stripe | The Muslim faith and Moorish ethnicity |
| The yellow border round the flag | People from other cultures living in Sri Lanka |
| The crimson background | Other minor religions |
References
See also
External links
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