List of Sri Lankan flags

This is a list of flags used in Sri Lanka.

National flag

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1972 –	Flag of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka	Modified flag of the Dominion of Ceylon. Used since the proclamation of the Republic in 1972.^[1]

Presidential flag (1972–2022)

This flag was personal to every President of Sri Lanka, and as such the design changed when a new president assumed office.^[2]

On 15 July 2022, the acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe abolished the presidential flag.^[3]

Flag	Date	Use
	May 22, 1972 – February 4, 1978	Presidential flag of William Gopallawa
	February 4, 1978 – January 2, 1989	Presidential flag of J. R. Jayewardene
	January 2, 1989 – May 1, 1993	Presidential flag of Ranasinghe Premadasa
	May 1, 1993 – November 12, 1994	Presidential flag of D. B. Wijetunga
	November 12, 1994 – November 19, 2005	Presidential flag of Chandrika Kumaratunga
	November 19, 2005 – January 8, 2015	Presidential flag of Mahinda Rajapaksa
	January 9, 2015 – November 18, 2019	Presidential flag of Maithripala Sirisena
	November 18, 2019 – July 14, 2022	Presidential flag of Gotabaya Rajapaksa

Civil ensigns

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1972 –	Blue Ensign of Sri Lanka	A blue ensign with the Flag of Sri Lanka in the canton influenced by the British design. The Blue Ensign is flown by merchant vessels commanded by an officer of the SLVNF.

Military flags

Date	Use	Description
1972 –	President's Colour	A defaced national flag of Sri Lanka with Coat of arms of Sri Lanka .
1972 –	Flag of the Sri Lanka Army	The army flag defaced with the insignia of the Sri Lanka Army.
1972 –	Naval Ensign of Sri Lanka	A defaced white ensign with the flag of Sri Lanka in the canton influenced by the British design.
2010 –	Air Force Ensign of Sri Lanka	A defaced sky blue ensign with the flag of Sri Lanka in the canton and Air Force roundel influenced by the British design.
2010 –	Air Force Colours of Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka Air Force ensign with the four vertical stripes of saffron, green, maroon, and yellow in the centre, and superimposed by Sri Lanka national emblem.

Government flags

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1972 –	Flag of the Sri Lanka Police
	2010 –	Flag of the Sri Lanka Coast Guard

Provincial flags

Date	Use	Description
November 14, 1987 –	Flag of Central Province	The flag is designed to represents the Central Province and its three districts Kandy, Matale and Nuwaraeliya. The Golden colour Lion that carries a sword and the four Bo leaves at the four corners in the maroon colour background represents the Kandy District. The white layout represents Matale District and Nuwaraeiya District which represents the Upcountry is symbolised by the white lotus. The Sun and Moon are for Eternity.
January 1, 2007 –	Flag of Eastern Province
November 14, 1987 –	Flag of North Central Province
November 14, 1987 – December 31, 2006	Flag of North Eastern Province	Was adapted as the Flag of the North Province after the demerger of the North-Eastern Province^[4]
January 1, 2007 –	Flag of Northern Province	Blue border – ocean resource; Green – the greenery and agriculture; Red – labour, industriousness and Hindu culture, religion; White – fraternity, peace; Radiating sun indicates synergy of power and natural energy source, also Tamil people and language in the Province
November 14, 1987 –	Flag of North Western Province	It features a brown bovine with a sun and moon symbol on a white background. There are 15 small eight-pointed cross-stars in the background, and a green and brown woven border surrounds the whole.
November 14, 1987 –	Flag of Sabaragamuwa Province
November 14, 1987 –	Flag of Southern Province	A picture of a lion flag can be seen in frescos in historical Dambulla cave temple. This historical flag made of carving a picture of a running lion with a small sword in its forepaw is considered to be the Ruhuna flag. Furthermore, King Dutugamunu left the Magam Kingdom with the lion flag ahead for the battle to unite the country. The flag is a picture of a yellow lion on a red blood colour background. Accordingly, it was decided to use for the Southern Provincial flag the picture of the lion running with a small sword (iluk koolaya) in its forepaw of the Ruhuna flag and the red colour and yellow colour of the flag taken on the war front by King Dutugamunu. It was decided to use the same for the Southern Province flag mixture of colours and the standard to represent all communities in Galle, Matara, and Hambantota and four bo leaves (Metta, Karuna, Muditha, Upeksha) of the national flag. It was agreed that the forms of the sun and moon of the flag of Southern Province flag should be in the same forms as the sun and moon of the flag of Devinuwara Devalaya and that the same form that of the flag of Hambantota District. Accordingly, it was expected to keep the integration of Galle, matara and Hambantota. Therefore, the Southern Province flag can be considered a combination of several traditional flags. The small sword (iluk Koolaya) is the symbol of control, but it does not reflect terror or suppression. The small sword represents Justice and fairness. Running lion represents velocity fearlessness and pride. The sun and moon stand for stability prosperity and augustness. It expresses the traditional saying "Until the sun and moon exists". The sun and moon of the flag are considered to be symbols of victory. The combination of colours around the flag depicts the existence of Southern Sri Lanka, victorious war history, religion and patriotism, mutual cooperation and harmony
November 14, 1987 –	Flag of Uva Province	In the days of the Sinhala kings, Sri Lanka had been divided into twelve provinces and ruled and each of these twelve provinces had been allotted a flag. Accordingly, in order to bring about qualities such as pleasantness, innocence, greatness and royalty, a flag with a picture of swan had been allotted to the Uva Province. The flag that was gifted to Uva Province by the King Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe who ruled the kingdom of Kandy during the period 1798–1815 can be seen even today at the National Museum ( Courtesy: Book entitled “Uva Ithihasaya” by Panditha Naulle Dhammananda Thero )
November 14, 1987 –	Flag of Western Province

Historical flags

Sinhala Kingdom flags

Date	Use	Description
1215–1619	Flag of the Jaffna Kingdom	The emblem of Nandi surrounded by conch, parasol, sun and moon on a traditional saffron background. The Aryachakravtis of Jaffna are related to the Chodaganga Dynasty of Kalinga, both share a similar royal emblem.
1341–1408	Flag of the Kingdom of Gampola	A Red Field With Golden Border and a Peacock fighting a Snake in the center.
1521–1594	Flag of the Kingdom of Sitawaka	A White Field with a Red Lion in the centre and 4 bo leaves in each corner.
1785–1803	The flag of Vannimai	A yellow field with 2 crossed swords.

Tamil flags

Date	Use	Description
590–619	Flag of the Pallava dynasty	The Pallava royal insignia was the (lion) and (bull) which was changeable. Narashimavarman used the lion as his emblem and Nandivarman preferred the Nandi. Under the reign of Parameswaravarman was Khatvanga (Skull mace) added to the Pallava emblem.
996–1068	Flag of the Chola dynasty	The tiger flag of Chola is mentioned in Periya Puranam.
1251–1323	Flag of the Pandya dynasty	According to legend, the goddess Meenakshi was born as the daughter of a Pandya king. Her eyes had the shape of a fish and resemble the emblem of the Pandyas.

Portuguese Ceylon flags

Date	Use	Description
1508–1521	Flag of the Kingdom of Portugal	A white field with the Portuguese coat of arms in the center.
1521–1578	Flag of the Kingdom of Portugal	A white field with the Portuguese coat of arms in the center.
1578–1640	Flag of the Kingdom of Portugal	A white field with the Portuguese coat of arms in the center.
1616–1640	Flag of the Kingdom of Portugal (Putative flag)	A white field with the Portuguese Coat of arms in the center.
1640–1658	Flag of the Kingdom of Portugal	A white field with the Portuguese coat of arms in the center.

Dutch Ceylon flags

Date	Use	Description
1638–1795	The Prince's Flag	A horizontal triband of orange, white and blue.
1652–1672	States Flag	A horizontal triband of red, white and blue.
1795–1796	Flag of the Batavian Republic	A horizontal triband of red, white and blue with the Republic’s emblem in the canton.

British Ceylon flags

Date	Use	Description
1796–1801	Flag of the Kingdom of Great Britain	A superimposition of the flags of England and Scotland (Union Jack).
1801–1972	Flag of the United Kingdom	A superimposition of the flags of England and Scotland with the Saint Patrick's Saltire (representing Ireland) (Union Jack).
1875–1948	Flag of Ceylon's Colonial Government	A defaced blue ensign with the Arms of the Ceylon Government.
1948–1951	The first flag of the Dominion of Ceylon	The Royal Standard of the Kandyan Kingdom , the last kingdom of Sri Lanka.
1951–1972	The second flag of the Dominion of Ceylon	Defaced flag of Kandyan Kingdom, the last kingdom of Sri Lanka.

Ensigns

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1955 – 1969	Civil Ensign of Sri Lanka	A red ensign with the Flag of Sri Lanka in the canton influenced by the British design.

Royal standards

Date	Use	Description
161 BC – 137 BC	Flag of King Dutugamunu, as depicted in the Dambulla Viharaya cave no.2^[5]	A white swallowtailed field with a Lion holding a kastane sword in its right forepaw and the Sun and the Moon above. The lion's details and coloring are uncertain.
1415 – 1457	Military Standard of Parakramabahu VI of Kotte
c.1798 – 1815	Royal Standard of King Sri Vikrama Rajasinha

Viceregal flags

Date	Use	Description
1953–1972	Flag of the governor–general of Ceylon	A lion standing atop a St Edward's Crown, over "Ceylon"
1948–1953	Flag of the governor–general of Ceylon	A lion standing atop a Tudor Crown, over "Ceylon"
1875–1948	Flag of the governor of Ceylon	A Union Flag defaced with arms of the Ceylon Government.

Military flags

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1949–1966	First Flag of the Ceylon Army
	1966–1972	Second Flag of the Ceylon Army
	1950–1972	Ensign of the Royal Ceylon Navy
	1951–1972	Ensign of the Royal Ceylon Air Force
	1971 – 2010	Ensign of the Sri Lanka Air Force
	1971 – 2010	Unit colour of the Sri Lanka Air Force