See also: List of Sri Lankan flags

Flag of Sri Lanka

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.
Use	Naval ensign.
Proportion	1:2
Adopted	1972
Design	White with the national flag in the canton.

Flag of Ceylon between 1951 and 1972

Flag of Ceylon from 1948-1951

Flag of British Ceylon, 1815 - 1948

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 Ceylon, The Rt Hon D.S. Senanayake.

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 changes in 1953 and again in 1972.

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 been given distinctive meanings.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Flags of Sri Lanka

• Sri Lanka Government Web Portal
• Lanka Library
• The Sri Lankan Lion flag -how it came to be

See also

• List of Sri Lankan flags

External links

• Lion Flag as depicted in the Constitution of Sri Lanka