INTRODUCTION ON TIBET NATIONAL FLAG.
The Tibetan national
flag is intimately connected with the authentic history and royal lineages of
Tibet, which are thousands of years old. Furthermore, in the Tibetan Royal year
820 or in the seventh century of the Christian era, at the time of the Tibetan
religious King Song Tsen Gampo, the Great extensive land of Tibet was divided
into large and small districts known as ‘go-kyi tong de’ and ‘yung-g’i
mi-de’. From these large and small districts, an army of 2,860,000 men was
chosen and stationed along the borders of Tibet, and the subjects thus lived in
safety. The bravery and heroism of the Tibetan people at the that time in
conquering and ruling even the adjacent empire of China is well known in world
history.
‘At that time, it
is recorded that the regiment of Yo-ru had a military flag with a snow-lions
facing each other; that Ya-ru has snow-lion with a bright upper border; that of
Tsang Rulag, had a snow-lion standing upright, springing towards the sky;and the
flag of u-ru to had a white flame against a red background, and so forth. In
this way, the regiments of each area had its own individual military standard.
Continuing with that tradition up to the beginning of the twentieth century,
various regiments within the Tibetan army have had military flags with either a
pair of snow-lions facing each other, or a snow-lion springing upwards and so
forth.
In the latter part of
this period, during the rule of his Holiness the thirteenth Dalai Lama, this
eminent spiritual and temporal ruler of Tibet enacted many modifications in
administrative policies in accordance with international customs. Based on the
formats of previous Tibetan military flags, His Holiness improved upon them and
designed the present, modern national flag. With an official proclamation, He
declared that this would be the uniform, standard flag to be adopted by all
Tibetan military defense establishments. Since the time of that proclamation,
all Tibetan regiments have likewise adopted this flag as their standard.
The colour scheme of
the Tibetan national flag gives a clear indication of all aspects of Tibet in
its symbolism such as the geographic features of the religious, snowy land of
Tibet, the customs and traditions of Tibet society, the political administration
of the Tibetan government and so forth.
History attests to
the fact that Tibet is one of the most ancient nations of the world. Therefore,
in all three regions of Tibet, irrespective of caste, creed, this national flag
inherited from our ancestors is universally accepted as a common, peerless
treasure and even today still continues to be highly respected and esteemed as
in the past’.
An explanation of the
symbolism of Tibetan National Flag.
In the center stands
a magnificent thickly snow clad mountain, which represents the great nation of
Tibet, widely known as the Land surrounded by Snow Mountains.
Across the dark blue sky six red bands spread representing the original ancestors of the Tibetan people: the six tribes called Se, Mu, Dong, Tong, Dru and Ra which in turn gave the twelve descendants. The combination of six red bands (for the tribes) and six dark blue bands for the sky represents the incessant enactment of the virtuous deeds of protection of the spiritual teachings and secular life by the black and red guardian protector deities with which Tibet has had connection for a very long time.
At the tip of the now
mountain, the sun with its rays brilliantly shinning in all directions
represents the equal enjoyment of freedom, spiritual and material happiness and
prosperity by all beings in the land of Tibet.
On the slopes of the
mountain there proudly stand a pair of snow lions blazing with the manes of
fearlessness, which represent the country’s victorious accomplishment of a
unified spiritual and secular life.
The beautiful and
radiant three-coloured jewel held aloft represents the ever-present reverence
respectfully held by the Tibetan people towards the Three supreme Jewels (the
Buddhist objects of refuge: Buddha, dharma and Sangha)
The two coloured
swirling jewel held between the two lions represents the people’s guarding and
cherishing the self discipline of correct ethical behavior principally
represented by the practices of the ten exalted virtues and the 16 humane modes
of conduct.
Lastly, the
surrounding border of yellow adorning the perimeter represents the spread and
flourishing in all directions and times of the purified gold like teachings of
the Buddha.
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