Buddhist flag

One popular flag with six bands of colour was designed in late 19th century Sri Lanka as a universal symbol of Buddhism. This flag became popular throughout South East Asia, and was adopted by the World Fellowship of Buddhists as an official flag. The flag's five vertical bands represent the five colors of the aura which Buddhists believe emanated from the body of the Buddha when he attained enlightenment.

However, alternative versions of this flag and other different Buddhist flags are also flown in other countries, with different Buddhist groups having their own preferences.

There are also various types of Buddhist prayer flags, which serve a different function.

The International Buddhist Flag

The International six stripe Buddhist flag was originally designed in 1885 by the Colombo Committee, in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). The committee consisted of Ven. Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Thera (chairman), Ven. Migettuwatte Gunananda Thera, Don Carolis Hewavitharana (father of Anagarika Dharmapala), Andiris Perera Dharmagunawardhana (maternal grandfather of Anagarika Dharmapala), Charles A. de Silva, Peter De Abrew, William De Abrew (father of Peter), H. William Fernando, N. S. Fernando and Carolis Pujitha Gunawardena (secretary).

It was first publicly hoisted on Vesak day, 28 May 1885 at the Dipaduttamarama, Kotahena, by Ven. Migettuwatte Gunananda Thera. This was the first Vesak public holiday under British rule.

Colonel Henry Steel Olcott, an American journalist, founder and first president of the Theosophical Society, 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.

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

At the 1950 World Fellowship of Buddhists, the flag of Buddhists was adopted as the International Buddhist Flag.

Colours

The flag's five vertical bands represent the five colors of the aura which Buddhists believe emanated from the body of the Buddha when he attained Enlightenment:

• Blue (Pāli and Sanskrit: nīla): The Spirit of Universal Compassion
• Yellow (Pāli and Sanskrit: pīta): The Middle Way
• Red (Pāli and Sanskrit: lohitaka): The Blessings of Practice – achievement, wisdom, virtue, fortune and dignity
• White (Pali: odāta; Sanskrit: avadāta): The Purity of Dhamma – leading to liberation, timeless
• Orange (Pali: mañjeṭṭha; Sanskrit: mañjiṣṭhā), 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. This new, compound color is referred to as the Truth of the Buddha's teaching or Pabbhassara (lit. 'essence of light').

Variant Six Band flags

There are numerous variations of the six stripe Buddhist flags, most commonly achieved by changing the color of one of the stripes. For example:

• Sometimes, Buddhist symbols are placed in front of the stripes. The common one is the Dharmawheel.
• The colour mañjeṭṭha is interpreted as pink in Myanmar, a Theravāda Buddhist country and Vietnam, a Mahayana 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, 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 replace the orange stripes with plum stripes.