The National Flag of Sri Lanka

The National Flag of Sri Lanka has been designed with great care and purpose. It not only represents the country and her heritage, but is a rallying device that integrates the minority races with the majority race.

It was adopted in 1950 following the recommendations of a committee appointed by the 1st Prime Minister of Ceylon, The late Hon D.S. Senanayake.

History

1 Flag of Ceylon between 1951 and 1972.

2 Flag of Ceylon from 1948–1951.

3 Flag of British Ceylon, 1815–1948.

Symbol	Represents
The Lion and the golden color of lion	Represents the Sinhalese ethnicity and the bravery of the Sri Lankan nation.
The bo leaves	Buddhism and its influence on the nation. They also stand for the four virtues of Kindness, Friendliness, Happiness and Equanimity.
The sword of the lion	The sovereignty of the nation and the braveness of its people.
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 that the country is made of.
The nose of the lion	Intelligence.
The two front paws of the lion	Purity in handling wealth.
The vertical orange stripe	The Tamil ethnicity.
The vertical green stripe	The Muslim faith and Moor ethnicity.
The yellow border round the flag	People from all cultures living together in Sri Lanka in including some Dutch burghers and Portuguese.
The maroon background	This represents the majority of Sinhalese people, it was used in early flags of Sri Lanka by Kings.