Flag of Sri Lanka | flagsworld.org

The Flag of Sri Lanka was adopted in 1948, but it was used as a symbol of justice for a long time before. Its main motive is yellow lion on a red field holding a sword as a symbol of power. Green and red stripes were added to the left part of the flag after 1815 and these stripes are intended to symbolize Hindu Tamils and Muslim Maurs minorities living on the island beside the Sinhalese majority. Moreover, after renaming in 1972 from Ceylon to Sri Lanka, four yellow leaves were added to the lion´s field. Each leaf should remind one of the Buddhist values - kindness, compassion and desire to be a benefit for the society, joy, peace and well-balanced mind.

What does the Sri Lanka flag symbolize?

The Sri Lanka flag was officially adopted on December 17, 1978. Prior to 1815, the gold lion was originally the national flag of Ceylon; its four pipul leaves are Buddhist symbols and the sword is said to represent authority. On this modern version, the green represents Muslims, while the orange represents Hindus.