Asia

Flag of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is a teardrop-shaped island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southern tip of India, known as the 'Pearl of the Indian Ocean.' It has one of the oldest documented histories in Asia, with a continuous chronicle of rulers dating to the 6th century BCE. Sri Lanka is the world's leading exporter of Ceylon tea and has a rich Buddhist heritage with ancient cities such as Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa, both UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

CapitalSri Jayawardenepura Kotte
RegionAsia
Current flag since1972
Main coloursYellow, Red, Orange, Green
Populationabout 22 million
Areaabout 66,000 km²
GeographyIsland nation
Flags in history5

Population and area are rounded.

What the flag of Sri Lanka means

The golden lion holding a sword comes from the flag of the last Sinhalese kingdom, Kandy. The four bo leaves stand for the Buddhist virtues of loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity. The green and orange stripes, added in 1951, represent the Muslim and Tamil communities, and the bo leaves were added in 1972.

More about the flag

Sri Lanka's flag is one of the oldest designs in Asia: the lion banner was flown by the kings of Kandy and taken to Britain after the kingdom fell in 1815. Shortly before independence in 1948, the lion flag was proposed again, and the green and orange stripes were added in 1951 after debate about representing minorities. Sri Lanka marks National Day on 4 February.

How to recognise it

Dark red with a golden lion holding a sword, surrounded by four bo leaves; green and orange vertical stripes on the left.

Did you know?

Sri Lanka is the world's largest exporter of Ceylon tea and has over 1,000 species of flowering plants.

Easily confused with

Sri Lanka's flag is often mixed up with these. Learn to tell them apart:

Brunei

Flag history of Sri Lanka

Every flag that has flown over Sri Lanka, from today back through time.

1972–present

Flag of Sri Lanka

When the country became the Republic of Sri Lanka in 1972, the corner pinnacles were replaced with four bo (pipal) tree leaves, a Buddhist symbol of compassion.

1951–1972

Lion flag with stripes

In 1951 two vertical stripes — green and orange — were added at the hoist to represent the Muslim and Tamil communities, broadening the flag's symbolism.

1948–1951

Dominion of Ceylon lion flag

Hoisted at independence in 1948 — a yellow lion with sword on dark crimson, reviving the Kandyan royal standard.

1798–1815

Lion Flag of the Kingdom of Kandy

The royal standard of Sri Vikrama Rajasinha, captured by the British at the 1815 Kandyan Convention and rediscovered in London in 1908 — it became the model for independent Ceylon's flag.

1521–1594

Kingdom of Sitawaka

A kingdom of the Sri Lankan interior that mounted the fiercest resistance to Portuguese conquest of the island.

Related historical states

Empires, kingdoms and republics that once covered part of Sri Lanka.

1469–1815

Kingdom of Kandy

A maroon field bordered in gold with a golden lion holding a kastane sword. The royal standard of Sri Lanka's last independent kingdom became the basis of the modern flag.