Buddhist flag
Encyclopedia
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
. It is used by Buddhists throughout the world.
History
The flag was originally designed in 1885 by the Colombo Committee, in ColomboColombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. The committee consisted of Ven. Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Thera (chairman), Ven. Migettuwatte Gunananda Thera
Migettuwatte Gunananda Thera
Migettuwatte Gunananda Thera or Mohottiwatte Gunananda Thera was a Sri Lankan Buddhist orator. He is known for leading the Buddhist side in debates that occurred between the Buddhists and the Christians in Baddegama, Udanwita, Waragoda, Liyanagemulla, Gampola, and in the most famous of the debates...
, Don Carolis Hewavitharana
Don Carolis Hewavitharana
Don Carolis Hewavitharana Wijeyaguneratne was a Ceylonese businessman, industrialist, philanthropist and a pioneer of the Buddhist revival movement. He was the father of Anagarika Dharmapala, and created a political family of considerable influence.-Early life:He was born in Yatiyana, Hittetiya,...
(father of Anagarika Dharmapala
Anagarika Dharmapala
Anagarika Dharmapala was a leading figure of Buddhism in the twentieth century. He was one of the founding contributors of Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalism and Protestant Buddhism...
), Andiris Perera Dharmagunawardhana
Andiris Perera Dharmagunawardhana
Muhandiram Lansage Andiris Perera Dharmagunawardhana was a Sri Lankan businessman, a philanthropist and a pioneer of the Buddhist revival movement...
(maternal grandfather of Anagarika Dharmapala), William de Abrew, Charles A. de Silva, Peter de Abrew
Peter De Abrew
Peter De Abrew was a Ceylonese industrialist and philanthropist.Born to William de Abrew a successful businessmen, Peter De Abrew was educated at the prestigious Colombo Academy . Going into business as produce merchant, De Abrew gain a strong reputation amongst the business community...
, H. William Fernando, N. S. Fernando and Carolis Pujitha Gunawardena (secretary).
This flag was published in the Sarasavi Sandaresa newspaper of 17 April 1885 and was first hoisted in public on Vesak
Vesak
Vesākha is a holiday observed traditionally by Buddhists in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the South East Asian countries of Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, and Indonesia...
day, 28 April 1885 at the Dipaduttamarama, Kotahena, by Ven. Migettuwatte Gunananda Thera. This was the first Vesak public holiday
Public holiday
A public holiday, national holiday or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year....
under British
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
rule.
Colonel Henry Steel Olcott
Henry Steel Olcott
Colonel Henry Steel Olcott was an American military officer, journalist, lawyer and the co-founder and first President of the Theosophical Society....
, an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
journalist, founder and first president of the Theosophical Society
Theosophical Society
The Theosophical Society is an organization formed in 1875 to advance the spiritual principles and search for Truth known as Theosophy. The original organization, after splits and realignments has several successors...
, 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. Modifications were made accordingly, which were adopted. The modified flag was published in the Sarasavi Sandaresa of 8 April 1886 and first hoisted on Vesak day 1886.
In 1889 the modified flag was introduced to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
by Anagarika Dharmapala and Olcott—who presented it to the Emperor
Emperor of Japan
The Emperor of Japan is, according to the 1947 Constitution of Japan, "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people." He is a ceremonial figurehead under a form of constitutional monarchy and is head of the Japanese Imperial Family with functions as head of state. He is also the highest...
—and subsequently to Burma.
At the inaugural conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists
World Fellowship of Buddhists
The World Fellowship of Buddhists is an international Buddhist organization. It was founded in 1950 in Colombo, Sri Lanka by representatives from 27 nations...
on 25 May 1950, its founder President Professor G P Malasekera proposed that this flag be adopted as the flag of Buddhists throughout the world; this motion was unanimously passed.
Colors
The six vertical bands of the flag represent the six colors of the auraAura (paranormal)
In parapsychology and many forms of spiritual practice, an aura is a field of subtle, luminous radiation surrounding a person or object . The depiction of such an aura often connotes a person of particular power or holiness. Sometimes, however, it is said that all living things and all objects...
which Buddhists believe emanated from the body of the Buddha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
when he attained Enlightenment
Bodhi
Bodhi is both a Pāli and Sanskrit word traditionally translated into English with the word "enlightenment", but which means awakened. In Buddhism it is the knowledge possessed by a Buddha into the nature of things...
:
| Blue (Nila): Loving kindness, peace and universal compassion |
|---|
| Yellow (Pita): The Middle Path - avoiding extremes, emptiness |
| Red (Lohita): The blessings of practice - achievement, wisdom, virtue, fortune and dignity |
| White (Odata): The purity of Dharma - leading to liberation, outside of time or space |
| Orange (Manjesta): The Buddha's teachings - wisdom |
The sixth vertical band, on the fly, is made up of a combination of rectangular bands of the five other colours, and represents a compound of the other five colours in the aura's spectrum
Spectrum
A spectrum is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary infinitely within a continuum. The word saw its first scientific use within the field of optics to describe the rainbow of colors in visible light when separated using a prism; it has since been applied by...
. This compound colour is referred to as Pabbhassara ('essence of light').
Variants
The nonsectarian Buddhist flag is flown over the temples of many different schools. However, some choose to change the colors of the flag to emphasize their own teachings.- In Japan, there is a traditional Buddhist flag (五色幕) which has different colors but is sometimes merged with the design of the international flag to represent international cooperation. The five colors of the Japanese Buddhist flag represent the Five Wisdom BuddhasFive Dhyani BuddhasIn Vajrayana Buddhism, the Five Dhyani Buddhas , also known as the Five Wisdom Tathāgatas, the Five Great Buddhas and the Five Jinas , are representations of the five qualities of the Buddha...
, or alternately the colors of the Buddha's hair. - The Jodo Shinshu sect in JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
replaces the orange stripe with pink. - In TibetTibetTibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
, the colours of the stripes represent the different colours of Buddhist robes 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 NepalNepalNepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
replace the orange stripes with plum stripes. - Soka Gakkai uses a tricolor of blue, yellow, and red.
- Theravada Buddhists in Burma replace orange with pink, the color of the robe of the country's nuns.
- Theravada Buddhists in ThailandThailandThailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
opt the usage of a yellow flag with a red DharmacakraDharmacakraThe Dharmachakra , lit. "Wheel of Dharma" or "Wheel of Life" is a symbol that has represented dharma, the Buddha's teaching of the path to enlightenment, since the early period of Indian Buddhism. A similar symbol is also in use in Jainism...
; it is sometimes paired with the international Buddhist flag.
Ban
In 1963, the Catholic President of South VietnamSouth Vietnam
South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngô Đình Diệm was the first president of South Vietnam . In the wake of the French withdrawal from Indochina as a result of the 1954 Geneva Accords, Diệm led the effort to create the Republic of Vietnam. Accruing considerable U.S. support due to his staunch anti-Communism, he achieved victory in a...
selectively invoked an law prohibiting flags other than that of the nation, to ban the Buddhist flag from being flown on Vesak
Vesak
Vesākha is a holiday observed traditionally by Buddhists in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the South East Asian countries of Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, and Indonesia...
, when Vatican flags had habitually flown at government events. This led to a protest, which was ended by lethal firing of weapons, starting the Buddhist crisis
Buddhist crisis
The Buddhist crisis was a period of political and religious tension in South Vietnam from May 1963 to November 1963 characterized by a series of repressive acts by the South Vietnamese government and a campaign of civil resistance, led mainly by Buddhist monks....
.
External links
- Buddhist flag at Flags of the WorldFlags of the WorldFlags of the World is an Internet-based vexillological association and resource. Its principal project is the Internet's largest website devoted to vexillology, containing comprehensive information about all kinds of flags, and an associated mailing list...
- General Buddhist symbols