As we celebrate Independence Day today we proudly hoist our National flag which is imbued with psychological meaning, paramount in conceptually representing our country’s core values, condensing the history and memories associated with our nation and embodying what the nation stands for. In fact, the national flag represents the soul of our society in terms of symbolic representation of national consciousness and holds strong emotional attachments felt for our nation.
 Dr. Pandula Endagama |
Sri Lanka gained Independence from the British in 1948. Since then, February 4 has been celebrated with all pomp and pageantry and the national flag is hoisted with pride. Our National Flag or lion flag, as it is sometimes known as, consists of a yellow lion holding a sword in its right front paw in a dark red background with four yellow Bo leaves in each corner of the background. Around the background is a yellow border and to its left are two vertical stripes of equal size in green and saffron. The lion represents bravery of Sri Lankans and the four Bo leaves represent the four main concepts of Buddhism Mett, Karuna, Mudita and Upekkha. The stripes represent the two main minority groups, with the Tamils being represented by the saffron stripe and the green stripe represents Muslims, and the maroon background represents the majority Sinhalese. The yellow border around the flag represents the unity of Sri Lankans.
In an attempt to dig deeper into the significance of the symbols of our national flag and his history, the Daily News spoke with Anthropologist Dr. Pandula Endagama who elaborated quite emphatically the significance and history of our national flag.
“Our national flag is the greatest symbol that has very superlative power in the display in one’s own integrity. In our country we have a written record of over 2,500 years and ever since that, we seemed to have a symbol which had been considered as the rallying point in our country. At the very beginning it had been all Buddhist symbols and it was around these Buddhist symbols that people rallied and there was a dependence on such symbols. From the past the ‘Lion’ symbol had been adopted as the symbol of the ‘Sinhala Deshaya’ or Sinhala nation. There had been stone symbol representations of the lion and historians have come to conclude that these depict the royal symbol. This was the symbol of the king and therefore, it was the symbol of the country. The significance of the lion in this instance is that the symbol stands for several high-level qualities. All these qualities are being considered part and parcel of the king and his rule. If we look back the real lion flag can be seen in the Dambulla paintings at the Dambulla Temple. The lion symbol was specifically used to demarcate the territory of the king in the past,” he explained.
Today, the lion, though a ferocious animal, is considered to be a majestic animal and not one to be discarded or disregarded. Therefore, one can consider it as a symbol of continuity of the nation. The history of our nation, has been to a great extent, been proved by the use of this national symbol. In fact, the country has gained prestige through the adoption of the lion as its national symbol.
Original colours
Referring to the colours of our National Flag, Dr. Endagama said, one cannot be very sure as to what the original colours of the flag might have been, taking into consideration the extent of fading and discolouration. “In many areas where scientific studies have been done, experts have determined that the original colour may have been maroon. But there had only been one colour at that time. Subsequently, especially after the Dambulla representation was discovered, they have found that even in the circle where the kings’ representation exists, very often it is four main colours. But, in the present day national Flag, we find only three main colours - red, green and yellow. This was introduced only in 1947 with the news of gaining independence in 1948. The parliamentarians in this country started discussing from 1947 as to how they could transfer the nation’s independence to the hands of the people. It is through some of these symbolic representations that they hoped to highlight the independence. The matter was discussed mainly in Parliament when the question arose as to what flag should be raised on the occasion of gaining independence,” he explained.
The Member of Parliament for Batticaloa, A. Sinnalebbe, suggested in Parliament on January 16, 1948 that the Lion Flag should be accepted as the national flag. This proposal was seconded by A. E. Gunasinghe. However, this proposition ran into trouble with M. P. for Kankasanturai S. J. V. Chelvnayagam and M. P. for Vadukkodai K. Kanagaratnam, who protested that it be revised.
Then the question arose if there were any amendments that needed to be added onto the flag. It is at that point that, despite everyone agreeing on adopting the lion flag, the suggestion was made to appoint a sub-committee to go into detail about this matter. Then a committee was appointed under the Chairmanship of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike and 11 parliamentarians and they came up with the other two colours of equal stripes of green and yellow. “Unfortunately, they took up the wrong interpretation of green and yellow saying that it represents the Tamils and Muslims, instead of saying it represented the minority communities. However, it had survived for so long and now there are suggestions to re-do the National flag. If it is a unitary state and everyone has equal rights, why should we have separate colours to represent the various ethnic groups? Anyways, this topic has been under discussion, on and off. Since May 22, 1972 when the new Republic was declared, the national flag was made part of the constitution. Therefore, now nothing can be done to the flag without the 2/3rd parliamentary majority. Hence, the lion flag with the current ratio of 5/7th set for the background of the lion, which is red for the Sinhala majority, then the two green and yellow stripes occupying 1/7th each representing the Tamils and Muslims,” Dr. Endagama added.
Lions flag at Chelsea War Hospital
When the interest in the designing of a national flag for the country was born, the then Commissioner of the Archaeological Department, A.C. Bell, the Director of the Museum, Dr. Joseph Pierson, the State Councillor, E. W. Perera, the founder of the Lake House Group of Newspapers D. R. Wijewardena and Sir D. B. Jayathilaka had been instrumental in locating the whereabouts of the national flag.
Subsequently, while in London, E. W. Perera and D. R. Wijewardena had discover three flags belonging to Sri Lanka at the Chelsea War Hospital, and one of them was the Royal Lion Flag, which was used by our last king. They had brought a coloured photograph of the flag to Sri Lanka and exhibited it to make the people aware of the importance of a national flag. This was published in the Dinamina journal on March 2, 1945.
Thereafter, Prime Minister D. S. Senanayake appointed a committee of seven members headed by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike to make recommendations on the national flag, on January 27, 1948. The other members were, G. G. Ponnambalam, T. B. Jayah, J. L. Kotelawela, Dr. L. A. Rajapakse, Senator S. A. Nadesan and J. R. Jayewardena.
There was S. Nadesan as well as a member of this committee, but he declined to be a party to this endeavor. He had said, “I agree with the observations made in the report, except with regard to the design of the National flag. I append to this report a written dissent setting out the reasons why I have not been able to agree to the proposed design.”
However, in accordance with the report of this committee, two new stripes, in front of the lion with the sword, were added in saffron yellow and green, to represent the Tamils and Muslims (Moors) while retaining everything else which appeared in the original flag.
Explaining the four Bo leaves on the flag, Dr. Endagama noted that originally, these were believed to be the neck of the spear. “Originally people thought what was at the four corners of the flag were Bo leaves which symbolizes Buddhism- through the radiation of Buddhism to make the nation strong and peaceful as well as cultural. But subsequently researchers had found that these were not normal Bo leaves. Some argue that artistes never depict things as they are, and they give their own interpretations.
Therefore, even the Bo leaf could have been depicted in a very symbolic manner. However, they eventually decided that the Bo leaf should be added onto the four corners of the National flag depicted in an artistic manner.”
Accordingly, in the corners of the crimson area behind the lion there had been yellow spires similar to those on the tops of temples. They were later replaced by leaves from the Bo tree to indicate the influence Buddhism has in Sri Lanka and to represent Buddhism’s four virtues (Brahmavihara or apramana) of kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity.
Dr. Endagama said that after the detailed description of the national flag was included in the constitution, no one could change anything. “Now no one can meddle with the National flag as every little detail in it has been spelled out and if ever anyone wants to design a flag on their own, with any part of the National flag, intentionally or unintentionally, they must get the permission from the government. In fact, the real owner of the National flag is the Ministry of Home Affairs. They have appointed a specialist committee to sit on these various matters as and when required and take decisions on behalf of the government on the use, manufacture and colours of the National flag in order to protect the integrity of our National flag,” explained Dr. Endagama.
Inculcate patriotism
However, he lamented that nowadays people do not respect their National flag, adding that this is an indication that people are losing touch with their country and government. “Sometimes when people are frustrated with the government or their politicians, they express their frustration by attacking the national flag or other symbols of the country. This is where national days, especially Independence Day should be used for. It should be used to inculcate love for their country and their own.”
At the same time, he said that encouraging our younger generation to love their country should in no way encourage them to run down or disrespect any other country. They should learn to respect others too. “However, we lack international brotherhood and that is why we see so many disputes in our society today. Especially on a National Day, the message of love and brotherhood needs to be driven home, especially among the younger generation.”
Dr. Endagama added that as we celebrate out independence, our children should be taught to respect our National flag which is the symbol of our country, adding that it is now a fashion to use one’s national flag at sports events, sometimes in a manner that desecrates it. “People sometimes sit on the National flag, stamp on it and use it in undesirable ways during these matches. This is something that should not be encouraged from their younger days and should especially be taught to them at school and also their elders,” he noted.
In conclusion, Dr. Endagama pointed out that celebrating independence must be meaningful to all citizens, but we still celebrate independence according to colonial practices of displaying their military strength. “We spend so much on all these parades. The spirit that has to be given to the younger generation has still not been done in the present context. Therefore, I think the format of the independence celebrations must change. The villagers need to be motivated to stay within the villagers and engage in various activities. It should not be an event for the higher authorities show their might to the ordinary people,” he said, adding that the sooner we change this system the more people would learn to love their country.
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