The Buddhist flag is a

flag A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...

designed in the late 19th century as a universal symbol of

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

. It is used by Buddhists throughout the world.

History

The flag was originally designed in 1885 by the Colombo Committee, in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

(''now

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

''). The committee consisted of Ven.

Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Thera Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Thera ( si, හික්කඩුවේ ශ්‍රි සුමංගල නාහිමි; 20 January 1827 – 29 April 1911) was a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk, who was one of the pioneers of Sri Lankan Buddhist revivalis ...

(chairman), Ven.

Migettuwatte Gunananda Thera Ven. Migettuwatte Gunananda Thera or Mohottiwatte Gunananda Thera ( si, පූජ්‍ය මිගෙට්ටුවත්තේ ගුණානන්ද හිමි) (9 February 1823, Balapitiya – 21 September 1890, Colombo) was a Sr ...

, Don Carolis Hewavitharana (father of

Anagarika Dharmapala Anagārika Dharmapāla (Pali: ''Anagārika'', ; Sinhala: Anagārika, lit., si, අනගාරික ධර්මපාල; 17 September 1864 – 29 April 1933) was a Sri Lankan Buddhist revivalist and a writer. Anagarika Dharmapāla is not ...

Andiris Perera Dharmagunawardhana Muhandiram Lansage Andiris Perera Dharmagunawardhana (19 November 1809 – 24 January 1890) was a Sri Lankan businessman, a philanthropist and a pioneer of the Buddhist revival movement. He was the grandfather of Anagarika Dharmapala. He owned ext ...

(maternal grandfather of Anagarika Dharmapala), Charles A. de Silva,

Peter De Abrew Peter De Abrew, MBE (1862–1940) was a Ceylonese industrialist and philanthropist. Born to William de Abrew, a successful businessman of Portuguese descent, Peter De Abrew was educated at the Colombo Academy (now Royal College, Colombo). Going i ...

, William De Abrew (father of Peter), H. William Fernando,

N. S. Fernando Muhandiram N. S. Fernando Wijesekera was a Ceylonese entrepreneur and philanthropist. Fernando developed a successful import export business and expanded into graphite mining and plantations. A devoted Buddhist, he was a notable member of the ...

and

Carolis Pujitha Gunawardena De Carolis is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Adolfo de Carolis (1874–1928), Italian painter, xylographer, illustrator and photographer *Alex De Carolis (born 1992), Canadian soccer player *Bob De Carolis (born c. 1 ...

(secretary). It was first publicly hoisted on

Vesak Vesak (Pali: ''Vesākha''; sa, Vaiśākha), also known as Buddha Jayanti, Buddha Purnima and Buddha Day, is a holiday traditionally observed by Buddhism, Buddhists in South Asia and Southeast Asia as well as Tibet and Mongolia. The festival ...

day, 28 May 1885 at the Dipaduttamarama,

Kotahena Kotahena is a suburb part of Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is an area known as ''Colombo 13'' Places of worship Kotahena is the location of some places of worship: *Dipaduttamarama, where in 1885 for the first time the Buddhist flag was shown and where ...

, by Ven. Migettuwatte Gunananda Thera. This was the first Vesak public holiday under

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

rule. Colonel

Henry Steel Olcott Colonel Henry Steel Olcott (2 August 1832 – 17 February 1907) was an American military officer, journalist, lawyer, Freemason and the co-founder and first president of the Theosophical Society. Olcott was the first well-known American of Euro ...

, an American journalist, founder and first president of the

Theosophical Society The Theosophical Society, founded in 1875, is a worldwide body with the aim to advance the ideas of Theosophy in continuation of previous Theosophists, especially the Greek and Alexandrian Neo-Platonic philosophers dating back to 3rd century CE ...

, felt that its long streaming shape made it inconvenient for general use. He therefore suggested modifying it so that it was the size and shape of

national flags A national flag is a flag that represents and symbolizes a given nation. It is flown by the government of that nation, but usually can also be flown by its citizens. A national flag is typically designed with specific meanings for its colours ...

. In 1889, the modified flag was introduced to Japan by Anagarika Dharmapala and Olcott—who presented it to

Emperor Meiji , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figur ...

—and subsequently to

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. At the 1950

World Fellowship of Buddhists The World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB) is an international Buddhist organization. Initiated by Gunapala Piyasena Malalasekera, it was founded in 1950 in Colombo, Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka), by representatives from 27 nations. Although Therav ...

, the flag of Buddhists was adopted as the International Buddhist Flag.

Colors

The flag's six vertical bands represent the six colors of the aura which Buddhists believe emanated from the body of the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

when he attained Enlightenment: * Blue (Pāli and Sanskrit: ''nīla''): The Spirit of Universal Compassion * Yellow (Pāli and Sanskrit: ''pīta''): The

Middle Way The Middle Way ( pi, ; sa, ) as well as "teaching the Dharma by the middle" (''majjhena dhammaṃ deseti'') are common Buddhist terms used to refer to two major aspects of the Dharma, that is, the teaching of the Buddha.; my, အလယ်� ...

* Red (Pāli and Sanskrit: ''lohitaka''): The Blessings of Practice – achievement, wisdom, virtue, fortune and dignity * White (; ): The Purity of

Dhamma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for ''d ...

– leading to liberation, timeless * Orange (; ), alternatively scarlet: The Wisdom of the Buddha's teachings The sixth vertical band, on the fly, is made up of a combination of the five other colors' rectangular bands, and represents a compound of said colors in the aura's

spectrum A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors i ...

. This new, compound color is referred to as the Truth of the Buddha's teaching or '' Pabbhassara ''().

Variants

* The colour ''mañjeṭṭha'' is interpreted as pink in

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

, a Theravāda Buddhist country. * In Japan, there is a traditional Buddhist flag ( 五色幕 — ''goshikimaku'') which has different colors but is sometimes merged with the design of the international flag to represent international cooperation. * In

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

, the stripes' colors represent the different colors of Buddhist robes comprehensively united in one banner. Tibetan monastic robes are maroon, so the orange stripes in the original design are often replaced with maroon. * Tibetan Buddhists in

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

replace the orange stripes with plum stripes. * Theravāda Buddhists in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

opt for the usage of a yellow flag with a red dhammacakka (ธงธรรมจักร - ''thong thammajak''); it is sometimes paired with the international Buddhist flag. It was officially adopted in 1958 by Buddhist monks, and flown outside temples alongside the national flag and on important events. *

Soka Gakkai is a Japanese Buddhist religious movement based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese priest Nichiren as taught by its first three presidents Tsunesaburō Makiguchi, Jōsei Toda, and Daisaku Ikeda. It is the largest of the Japanese ...

uses a tricolor of blue, yellow, and red. It is often mistaken for the flags of

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. File:Sasana Flag – Buddhist flag in Myanmar.png, Burmese Buddhist flag File:Tibetan buddhist flag.svg, Tibetan Buddhist flag File:Nepal Buddhist flag.svg, Nepalese Buddhist flag File:Japanese Buddhist flag.svg, File:Buddhist flag with Dharma wheel.svg, A common variant with the

dharmachakra The dharmachakra (Sanskrit: धर्मचक्र; Pali: ''dhammacakka'') or wheel of dharma is a widespread symbol used in Indian religions such as Hinduism, Jainism, and especially Buddhism.John C. Huntington, Dina Bangdel, ''The Circle o ...

File:Lao buddhist flag.svg, Laotian Buddhist flag File:Dharmacakra flag (Thailand).svg, Thai Buddhist flag (i.e. the dhammacakka flag, , ) File:Red swastika flag.svg, Korean Buddhist

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. It ...

flag File:Flagkarmapa.svg,

Karma Kagyu Karma Kagyu (), or Kamtsang Kagyu (), is a widely practiced and probably the second-largest lineage within the Kagyu school, one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The lineage has long-standing monasteries in Tibet, China, Russia, Mon ...

flag (

Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, 16th Karmapa The sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje (; August 14, 1924 – November 5, 1981) was the spiritual leader of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Followers believed him to be part of the oldest line of reincarnate lamas in Vajra ...

's "dream flag"). File:Sanshokuki.svg, The flag of the Soka Gakkai movement File:Soka_Gakkai_International_Flag.gif, The flag of Soka Gakkai International

Bans

In 1963, the Catholic President of

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...

Ngo Dinh Diem Ngô Đình Diệm ( or ; ; 3 January 1901 – 2 November 1963) was a South Vietnamese politician. He was the final prime minister of the State of Vietnam (1954–1955), and then served as the first president of South Vietnam (Republic of ...

invoked a law prohibiting flags other than that of the nation, to ban the Buddhist flag from being flown on

, when Vatican flags had habitually flown at government events. This led to protests, which were ended by lethal firing of weapons, starting the

Buddhist crisis The Buddhist crisis ( vi, Biến cố Phật giáo) was a period of political and religious tension in South Vietnam between May and November 1963, characterized by a series of repressive acts by the South Vietnamese government and a campaign of ...

References

External links

Buddhist flag
at Flags of the World
General Buddhist symbols
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buddhist Flag Rainbow flags Buddhist symbols Religious flags Symbols introduced in the 1800s 1885 establishments in Ceylon Flags introduced in 1885