History of the Sri Lanka Flag: Royal Lion Standard, 1948 Independence & 1950 Redesign
Sri Lanka’s modern flag evolved from the royal standard of the last Kandyan king and was redesigned after independence to represent the country’s wider communities.
The royal lion standard
The flag’s core lion-and-sword imagery comes from the civil standard of Sri Wickrama Rajasingha, the last king of the Kandyan Kingdom.
What did the old royal standard show?
It featured a golden lion holding a sword, with Bo leaves at the four corners of the field.
February 4, 1948: independence
When Ceylon gained independence from Britain, the historic lion flag was raised again as a national symbol.
A committee redesigns the flag
Prime Minister D. S. Senanayake appointed a committee to advise the government on a permanent national design.
1950: green and orange are added
The design approved in February 1950 retained the lion, sword and Bo leaves while adding vertical green and orange stripes to represent Muslim and Tamil communities.
March 3, 1950
The redesigned national flag was first officially hoisted on March 3, 1950.
Later standardization
The modern flag continued to be refined and standardized, including later adjustments to the Bo leaves and formal technical specifications.
Why the redesign mattered
The post-independence version deliberately expanded a historic royal emblem into a broader national flag intended to represent multiple communities within the state.
