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.
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 |
