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Sri Lanka

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Shri Lanka Prajatantrika Samajavadi Janarajaya
Ilangai Jananayaka Socialisa Kudiarasu

1:2, 5:9 | image by Zoltan Horvath, 10 October 2024

See also:

Other sites:

Karava flags
Ancient Flags of Sri Lanka
Historic flags of Sri Lanka (Sunday Observer article)
How the Lion Flag evolved (Sunday Observer article)

Description of the Flag

Red(dish) rectangular panel bordered yellow containing a yellow lion passant holding a sword upright and four pipul leaves, one in each corner, and next to the hoist two vertical stripes, green and orange, also bordered yellow together. (This flag just does not permit a simple description. I'm sure there must be an official description from legislation in English which would be nice inclusion.)
Željko Heimer, 22 January 2003

Construction sheet

As shown in Album des Pavillons (2000):

image by Željko Heimer

The lion is heavily based on the Corel Clipart of the national coat of arms (where the lion is the central device). Otherwise the flag dimensions etc. are based on Album des Pavillons (2000) (where all images are "shorter" than designated in writing; I followed text). Colours are also based on the Album's Pantone approximations: dark red 184c, red 206c, orange 151c, yellow 116c, green 356c. If I am not much mistaken, the dark red above is used in the national flag while red (which is still different from the standard red) is used in the naval rank flags. The construction details are given in Album des Pavillons, measuring the rectangular panels and yellow borders, hoistwise to lengthwise (2+21+2):(2+8+8+2+28+2)
Željko Heimer, 22 January 2003

From "Specifications for the National Flag of Sri Lanka":

image by Martin Grieve, 15 September 2006

Christopher Southworth was in possession of the official dimensions of this flag from "Specifications for the National Flag of Sri Lanka" issued by the Sri Lanka Standards institution, Colombo,1985. He had obtained this information via the late William G. Crampton, whose name will be familiar to a very great many Vexillological enthusiasts. I altered my original drawing to suit the figures that Chris gave to me, and must say that the first thing about them I did not like were the overall proportion: 75x150.1! As we can see, the Lion is a great deal bigger than the version illustrated in Album des Pavillons 2000, and the width of the vertical yellow borders is slightly thinner than the width of the 2 horizontal ones. An ugly state of affairs indeed, in my opinion.

It is not entirely impossible that these specifications have been revised since 1985, but for posterity, here is my version based on the official figures given at that time, and maintaining the same RGB values as shown above.
Martin Grieve, 15 September 2006

Shorter Variant

5:9 image by Željko Heimer

A note to the image in Album des Pavillons (2000) explains that the flag is also used in ratio 5:9. The construction details for this are not given, but I assumed that
all three fields (green, orange, red) are proportionally contracted. What's the use of this flag variation?
Željko Heimer, 22 January 2003

Colour Specifications

The current Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka was placed before the Parliament on 3 August 2000.

Chapter I
The People, the State and Sovereignty

Article 4
The National Flag of the Republic of Sri Lanka shall be the Lion Flag depicted in the Third Schedule.
The Third Schedule shows an image of the flag.
Source: Vagnat & Poels (2000)
Ivan Sache, 23 January 2003

The 2000 draft Constitution was not adopted. Constitution of 1978 is still operative.
M.H.M. Salman, 14 March 2006

The protocol manual for the London 2012 Olympics (Flags and Anthems Manual London 2012) provides recommendations for national flag designs. Each NOC was sent an image of the flag, including the PMS shades, for their approval by LOCOG. Once this was obtained, LOCOG produced a 60 x 90 cm version of the flag for further approval. So, while these specs may not be the official, government, version of each flag, they are certainly what the NOC believed the flag to be. For Sri Lanka: PMS 109 yellow, 361 green, 150 brown, 194 red and black. The vertical flag is simply the horizontal version turned 90 degrees clockwise.
Ian Sumner, 11 October 2012

There is a Standard on Specification For The National Flag, it also gives illustrations and colors:
https://slsi.lk/web/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/sls_1_2020_National-Flag.pdf

The 2020 First Revision replaces specs from 1985 as follows:

Table 1- Colours of the National Flag

Colour	Pantone Number	CIE Lab values	requirement
Red	19-1863	TCX 33.16 44.22 17.87	∆E ≤ 1.5
Saffron	16-1164	TCX 59.16 37.52 66.50	∆E ≤ 1.5
Green	18-5322	TCX 37.53 -27.56 1.05	∆E ≤ 1.5
Yellow	14-0957	TCX 76.67 15.56 76.70	∆E ≤ 1.5
Black	na	na	na

The fifth column has: Method of test (5), Spectrometer readings (see 5.1) ∆E shall be calculated in accordance with formula DE 2000.

Curiously, the dimensions of various parts of the flag are set out in Table 2 for 8 different flag sizes, with some minor differences in proportions in some cases, and any other size of flag is to be construction in proportion to a 12.5 x 25 cm flag.
Jonathan Dixon, 2 November 2024

Other sources for colors:

The Album des Pavillons 1990 [pay98] (Corr. No. 29.) gives approximate colors in Pantone and CMYK systems:
Red: Pantone 194c, CMYK 0-90-60-30
Yellow: Pantone 116c, CMYK 0-10-95-0
Green: Pantone 330c, CMYK 100-0-50-50
Orange: Pantone 151c, CMYK 0-40-90-0

The Flag Manual - Beijing 2008 gives Pantone colors: PMS 194 (red), PMS 109 (yellow), PMS 150 (orange), PMS 361 (green), and Black.

The Album des Pavillons 2000 [pay00] (Corr. No. 5.) gives approximate colors in Pantone and CMYK systems:
Dark red: Pantone 194c, CMYK 90-0-60-30
Orange: Pantone 151c, CMYK 0-40-90-0
Yellow: Pantone 116c, CMYK 0-10-95-0
Green: Pantone 356c, CMYK 100-0-90-20

The Album des Pavillons 2023 specifies the colors of the flags in three color systems:
Blue: Pantone 279c, CMYK 73-41-0-0, RGB 65-137-221
Blue: Pantone 286c, CMYK 99-80-0-0, RGB 0-53-173
Red: Pantone 186c, CMYK 10-100-74-2, RGB 210-16-52
Brown: Pantone 181c, CMYK 32-90-83-43, RGB 121-39-32
Orange: Pantone 144c, CMYK 2-58-99-0, RGB 237-128-0
Yellow: Pantone 109c, CMYK 0-17-93-0, RGB 255-209-0
Green: Pantone 356c, CMYK 89-29-100-18, RGB 0-114-41

Vexilla Mundi gives colors in Pantone system: PMS 116C (yellow), PMS 194C (maroon), PMS 356C (green), PMS 151C (orange), and PMS Black.

Wikipedia illustrates the flag, and construction details, and gives color values as follows:
Yellow: CMYK 0-26-90-3, Hex #F7B718, RGB 247-183-24, Pantone 14-0957 TCX
Maroon: CMYK 0-80-66-42, Hex #941E32, RGB 148-30-50, Pantone 19-1863 TCX
Orange: CMYK 0-48-100-13, Hex #DF7500, RGB 223-117-0, Pantone 16-1164 TCX
Teal: CMYK 100-0-9-63, Hex #005F56, RGB 0-95-86, Pantone 18-5322 TCX

Flag Color Codes gives the following color values:
Yellow: Hex #FFBE29, RGB 255-190-41, CMYK 0-5-100-0, Pantone 109, RAL 1018
Saffron: Hex #EB7400, RGB 235-116-0, CMYK 0-30-71-0, Pantone 150, RAL 2011
Green: Hex #00534E, RGB 0-83-78, CMYK 68-0-100-0, Pantone 361, RAL 6036
Dark Red: Hex #8D153A, RGB 141-21-58, CMYK 2-97-43-33, Pantone 194, RAL 3003
Black: Hex #000000, RGB 0-0-0, CMYK 0-0-0-100, Pantone Black, RAL 9005

Zoltan Horvath, 10 October 2024

National Emblem

image by Zoltan Horvath, 10 October 2024

The National Emblem of Sri Lanka features a gold lion passant, holding a sword in its right fore paw (the same lion from the flag of Sri Lanka) in the centre on a maroon background surrounded by golden petals of a Blue Lotus the national flower of the country. This is placed on top of a traditional grain vase that sprouts sheaves of rice grains that circle the border reflecting prosperity.

The crest is the Dharmachakra, symbolizing the country's foremost place for Buddhism and just rule. Traditional Sinhalese heraldic symbols for the sun and the moon form the supporters. The Sun and Moon, and Lion depicting Buddha, are given less prominence than teh cart wheel of English Buddhism, so it is in great discordance with National Scriptures.
Zoltan Horvath, 10 October 2024