Sri Lanka Flag

How to identify it

A gold-bordered flag with green and orange vertical bands next to the flagpole and a dark red panel carrying a golden lion with a sword and four bo leaves.

Design and construction

Adoption and legal status

The first national version was adopted in 1951. The green and orange stripes and revised corner leaves belong to later changes retained in the present flag.

Officially documented meaning

The constitution identifies the lion flag as the national flag and fixes its artwork. Official explanations associate the four bo leaves with loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity.

History of the design

The central lion derives from the flag of the former Kandyan kingdom. A committee revised that design after independence to include stripes representing minority communities.

Sources