What is in a flag?
View(s):A country’s National Flag is respected and honoured as it represents the country and its people. A National Flag portrays the country’s culture, religions and beliefs. Flags have emblems and colours, all symbolizing something significant to the country. So let’s look at flags of the world, starting from our own flag and this week with our neighbouring South Asian countries.
Sri Lanka
After our country gained Independence in 1948, our first Prime Minister D. S. Senanayake appointed a committee to design a national flag. It was finalized and the flag we use at present was hoisted for the first time during the Independence Day ceremony in 1952.
As the lion bearing the sword was used in many ancient flags, especially the one used in the Kandyan kingdom and by our last
King Sri Wickrema Rajasinghe, it was decided to remain in the national flag with added features such as the four
Bo-leaves and green and orange stripes.
The reddish maroon background symbolizes the majority Sinhalese, as well as prosperity, the four Bo-leaves represent the four sublime states/ immeasurables in Buddhism – Metta (loving kindness), Karuna (compassion), Muditha (sympathetic joy) and Upekkha (calmness and self-control).
The orange and green stripes represent the minority Tamils and Muslims. The yellow border in the flag indicates bravery and unity.
The lion represents the brave, confident people of the country. The features of the lion, has many meanings. The sword represents sovereignty and bravery while the handle with four levels represents earth, water, air and fire, the elements Sri Lanka is made of.
The mouth of the lion represents bold words, the three teeth inside depict the righteous thought, word and deed, the tongue represents the truthful nature of the ruler, the nose indicates intelligence and the eyes represent the ability to see the people’s issues through the eyes of people.
The eight curls in the lion’s tail say about the noble eightfold path in Buddhism. The three hairs on top represent the Triple Gem (Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha).