Flag of Sri Lanka

The national flag of Sri Lanka is known as the Singha Flag or Lion Flag. It features a golden lion holding a kastane sword in its right paw, set against a maroon background. In each corner of the flag, there are four gold bo leaves. The flag also has a gold border and two vertical stripes in green and orange, with the orange stripe placed closest to the lion.

The lion and maroon background stand for the Sinhalese race. The gold border and the four bo leaves symbolize important ideas such as kindness, compassion, joy, and calmness. The orange stripe represents the Tamils living in Sri Lanka, including both the Sri Lankan Tamils and the Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka. The green stripe stands for the Sri Lankan Moors, who are the Muslims of Sri Lanka. Together, the flag shows the unity and diversity of Sri Lanka’s people.

History

Monarchical Sri Lanka

An ancient mural at the Dambulla Viharaya shows King Dutugemunu with a banner featuring a lion carrying a sword. This lion symbol represented the Sun and the Moon. Though this was thought to be the oldest lion flag of the Sinhalese people, the lion image was damaged by a vandal in 1957.

British colonial period

The lion flag design was used until 1815, when the Kandyan Convention ended the rule of Sri Lanka’s last monarch, Sri Vikrama Rajasinha. After this, the Union Flag became the country’s official flag. The colonial government of British Ceylon created its own flag, and Sri Vikrama Rajasinha’s royal standard was taken to England.

Sri Lanka (since 1948)

When Sri Lanka moved toward independence, leaders rediscovered the old Lion Flag. It was adopted as the national flag in 1948, with small changes in 1953 and a bigger redesign in 1972. In the 1972 version, the four spearheads on the flag’s corners were replaced with four bo leaves.

Symbolism

The flag of Sri Lanka features a golden lion holding a kastane sword, set against a maroon background with four gold bo leaves in each corner. The lion and maroon color represent the Sinhalese people, symbolizing strength and bravery.

According to the Mahavamsa, an ancient chronicle, the Sinhalese people trace their origins to Prince Vijaya, whose father was named King Sinhabahu, meaning “lion hero.” The lion has been a symbol of the Sinhalese people since ancient times and is a central feature of Sri Lanka’s national flag today.

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 the lion's tail	The Noble Eightfold Path
The beard of the lion	Purity of words
The handle of the sword	The classical 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 (including the Hill Country Tamils of Indian ancestry)
Green stripe	The Moor ethnicity
Saffron border	Buddhism and unity among the people
The maroon background	The Sinhala ethnicity
The golden yellow border	Other minority communities of Sri Lanka, such as the Malays, the Burghers, the Indigenous Veddas, the Kaffirs and, the Sri Lankan Chinese, who migrated to Sri Lanka during the 17th–19th centuries.

Colours

The colours of Sri Lanka's national flag are defined in a special document called "SLS 1: 2020: Specification for the National Flag of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka". This document explains exactly which shades of gold, maroon, green, and orange to use when making or displaying the flag. These colours have special meanings, representing different ideas and values important to the country.

Colours scheme	Yellow	Maroon	Orange	Teal
CMYK	0-26-90-3	0-80-66-42	0-48-100-13	100-0-9-63
HEX	#F7B718	#941E32	#DF7500	#005F56
RGB	247-183-24	148-30-50	223-117-0	0-95-86
Pantone	14-0957 TCX	19-1863 TCX	16-1164 TCX	18-5322 TCX