Universal Buddhist Flag - 46"x 35"
Universal Buddhist Flag - 46"x 35"

Universal Buddhist Flag - 46"x 35"

$36.00
$36.00
This is our largest Universal Buddhist Flag. This “modern” flag was designed by the Theosophist Colonel Olcott in 1888 to mark the revival of Buddhism in Ceylon in 1880. It was accepted as the International Buddhist Flag by the 1952 World Buddhist Congress. The flag has become quite popular and can be seen flying at many Tibetan Monasteries and homes of Dharma practitioners. Colonel Olcott designed a flag from the six colors of the aura that he believed shone around the head of the Buddha after His Enlightenment. In the past 50 years the colors of the stripes have changed, at least in the Tibetan communities. There is an explanation for this: To most Tibetans the colors of the stripes represent the different colors of Buddhist robes united in one banner. Tibetan monastic robes are maroon so the orange stripes in the original design are often replaced with maroon. That put us at Radiant Heart Studios in a bit of a quandary. We attempt to keep strictly to tradition but in this case we have deviated a little in favor of honoring the Tibetans (whose religions traditions have already suffered enough). Since our flags are made by Tibetans we couldn’t very well ask them to leave the maroon out. Anyway,whatever the exact colors, the sentiment of the Universal Buddhist flag is one of uniting and honoring the diversity of Buddhist paths.

Our Universal Buddhist Flags are fabricated from the different colors of cloth intricately sewn together. The pole edge (blue) can be attached to the pole using the 2" sleeve and/or the cloth ties.