Flag of Sri Lanka

Flag of Sri Lanka

Flag of Sri Lanka

The flag of Sri Lanka also known as the Lion Flag or Sinha Flag consists of a golden lion holding a kastane sword in its right fore-paw in a maroon background with four gold bo leaves, one in each corner. This is bordered by gold, and to its left are two vertical stripes of equal size in green and orange, with the orange stripe closest to the lion. The lion and the maroon background represent the Sinhalese, while the saffron border and four bo leaves represent Buddhism and the four Buddhist concepts of mettā, karuṇā, muditā and upekshā respectively. The stripes represent the two main minorities, with the orange representing the Sri Lankan Tamils and the green representing Sri Lankan Muslims.

The Flag of Sri Lanka was adopted in 1972. The first use of the current flag design was in 1948. The last change to the current Sri Lankan flag design was in 1972.

The flag of Sri Lanka
The flag of Sri Lanka

Flag

Symbolism

Symbol Represents
The Lion The Sinhala ethnicity and the strength of the nation
The bo leaves The four Buddhist virtues of loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy 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 eight hairs on lion’s tail The Noble Eightfold Path
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
Orange stripe The Tamil ethnicity
Green stripe The Moor ethnicity
Saffron border Buddhism and unity among the people
The maroon background

The Sinhala ethnicity

 

Flag of Sri Lanka
Flag of Sri Lanka