![[Buddhist flag on monasteries of Tibetan schools in Nepal]](../images/r/rel-b-ni.gif)
imageby Tomislav Todorović, 16 February 2014
Last modified: 2020-07-11 by ian macdonald
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Flag seen on monasteries of Tibetan schools:
imageby Tomislav Todorović, 16 February 2014
This flag can be see hanging out across Nepal in the monasteries of Tibetan
schools. This flag would seem from the filename to be a type of Buddhist flag
used in Nepal *and* India. Here the saffron is replaced with a plum color.
Eugene Ipavec, 27 June 2005
![[Buddhist flag on monasteries of Tibetan schools in Nepal]](../images/r/rel-b-npk.gif)
This is the dream flag created by the
late XVIth Karmapa, a major Tibetan master of the Karma-Kagyupa school. He
explains how he created it and his meaning here:
http://www.dharma-haven.org/dream-flag.htm
He explained thus:
At the level of relative truth, the blue is the sky (heaven), symbolizing
spiritual insight and vision, and the yellow is the earth, the actual world of
our everyday experience. The symmetry of the wave pattern shows how we come to
understand their interdependence when we practice the dharma. As a
reminder of absolute truth, the blue symbolizes the wisdom, or emptiness aspect
of awakened being, while the yellow stands for the compassion aspect. The wavy
intermingling of the two colors represents their inseparability. The
interdependence shown in the flag can also be seen as the wisdom of Mahamudra,
the ultimate realization of ones true nature.
Eugene Ipavec, 30 June 2005
![[Buddhist flag on monasteries of Tibetan schools in Nepal]](../images/r/rel-b-np1.gif)
![[Buddhist flag on monasteries of Tibetan schools in Nepal]](../images/r/rel-b-np2.gif)
image by Tomislav Todorović, 16 February 2014
The tricolor white-blue-red with the yellow disk may be the flag of the Sakya
school of the Tibetan Buddhism. We can see the tricolor with (or not) the yellow
circle on these websites :
http://www.sakyadokhocholing.org/
http://paldensakya.org.in/sakya.html
http://www.sakyatemple.org/
I didn't find any explanation of the flag.
Corentin Chamboredon, 20 May 2007
This flag is indeed used by the Sakya school, but in more than one variant. The
disc may also be red and visibly smaller, as shown in
this photo
from the Tharlam Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal:
The monastery was built in 1981 as the refounding of the same-named 15th-century
Tibetan monastery which was destroyed in 1959:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tharlam_Monastery
Shade of red, as well as that of blue, may vary, as shown in
another photo
from the same site.
However, the variant which seems to be used the most has a large orange disc, in
the same shade as used on the basic variant of Buddhist flag, which is also much
used by Tibetan Buddhists in Nepal, in the Tharlam Monastery at least, being
shown in many photos from the site and enabling the color comparison:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wonderlane/6936771206/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wonderlane/4747563069/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wonderlane/2085391393/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wonderlane/8363601838/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wonderlane/5830007412/
There is also a variant with small orange disc, as shown in other photos from
the same site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wonderlane/4578700749/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wonderlane/4410635842/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wonderlane/2071822927/
Flag with large
orange disc:
![[Buddhist flag on monasteries of Tibetan schools in Nepal]](../images/r/rel-b-np3.gif)
image by Tomislav Todorović, 16 February 2014
Flag with small orange disc:
![[Buddhist flag on monasteries of Tibetan schools in Nepal]](../images/r/rel-b-np4.gif)
image by Tomislav Todorović, 16 February 2014
Finally, there is also a variant with large red disc, as shown in this
photo from the same site, which also the flags with large yellow,
orange or red discs used together:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wonderlane/8228294235/
Note the use of Buddhist flag with orange bottom stripe, which
contains all three colors used for the discs, thus enabling the color
comparison.
Flag with large red disc:
![[Buddhist flag on monasteries of Tibetan schools in Nepal]](../images/r/rel-b-np5.gif)
image by Tomislav Todorović, 16 February 2014
In all the above cases, shades of red and blue seem to vary a lot.
This, just like the varying colors and sizes of the disc, seems to
have no significance.
Tomislav Todorović, 16 February 2014
Most of these flags were probably hand-made, and without any standard regulation
about the size and colors, so I think too it is not really important.
I have to say, though, that Sakya school has two sub-schools, namely Ngor and
Tsar (sometimes written Tshar). Maybe, but I doubt it, those flags represent
those different sub-schools.
Corentin Chamboredon, 16 February 2014
Since all the cited sources are from the same monastery, we'd need more sources
to prove this, from at least one monastery which belongs to the other sub-school
- or even better, from several monasteries, some belonging to one sub-school and
some to the other.
Tomislav Todorović, 17 February 2014
![[Buddhist flag on monasteries of Tibetan schools in Nepal]](../images/r/rel-b-sak.gif)
imageby Tomislav Todorović, 16 February 2014
Here is still another version of the Sakyapa flag. It has a big orange circle,
with the "Sa" Tibetan letter (ས) in white inside. The place seems to be the
Tagong monastery, in Garze Tibetan autonomous prefecture, Sichuan province,
China. The photos were taken in 2009.
Sources:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/adamsphotos/3800470092/ and
http://www.flickr.com/photos/adamsphotos/3800473912/
Corentin Chamboredon, 05 March 2014
There are also a number of plain tricolor flags (no disc) on the same photos.
Tomislav Todorović, 06 March 2014
Indeed, but as I had already reported such flags, I didn't think it was
necessary to report them too. There were apparently only one flag with the Sa
letter at this event, all the other being discless.
Corentin Chamboredon, 06 March 2014
![[Buddhist flag on monasteries of Tibetan schools in Nepal]](../images/r/rel-b-np6.gif)
imageby Tomislav Todorović, 16 February 2014
My wording was misleading: apart the main branch of the Sakya school, there are
two sub-schools.
Sources:
http://www.thlib.org/places/monasteries/list/sakya/ and
http://www.himalayanart.org/pages/sakyamonasteries/index.html
The Ngorchen Kungpa Zangpo monastery (Ngor school) has a flag with a small
yellow circle.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamyang190/6781211777/lightbox/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamyang190/6302665488/
Corentin Chamboredon, 18 February 2014
![[Buddhist flag on monasteries of Tibetan schools in Nepal]](../images/r/rel-b-np7.gif)
The Sa-Ngor Chotshog Center has apparently a flag with no circle at all.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_CFTkyF5GhPs/TMPeCLVO4qI/AAAAAAAAAQM/DRPIDJ97O7Q/s1600/File0363.JPG
http://sikkimandbeyond.blogspot.fr/2010/10/sa-ngor-chotshog-centre-sikkim-india.html
Corentin Chamboredon, 18 February 2014
![[Buddhist flag on monasteries of Tibetan schools in Nepal]](../images/r/rel_skus.gif)
The Sakya monastery of Seattle use a different flag in at least one instance:
it has a red field with a yellow dharmachakra (wheel of dharma / law). I have no
idea of its meaning.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/20108103@N00/2035000500/in/photostream/
It also uses the Sakya flag with a big orange circle.
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/wonderlane/sets/72157628580458427/
Corentin Chamboredon, 18 February 2014
The Sakya Tsechen Association uses a logo made of the Sakya flag with big yellow
circle and the word Tsechen (Wylie : "brtse tshen") in red Tibetan script.
http://www.tsechen.org/
http://static.wixstatic.com/media/171b1f_fce36d3285d642b3aa12ac59406c9b54.png
Corentin Chamboredon, 18 February 2014
![[Buddhist flag on monasteries of Tibetan schools in Nepal]](../images/r/rel_shechen.gif)
image by Corentin Chamboredon, 20 April 2014
Here is a flag used by a monastery of the Nyingmapa school. It was apparently
used for the centennial of the birth of late Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (1910-1991)
by Shechen Monastery, Nepal, in February, 2010. This monastery received the name
of one of the main monastery of the Nyingmapa school which had been destroyed
during the Cultural Revolution before Dilgo Khyentse rebuilt it in 1985.
The flag has a light blue field. In the center, there is a white circle with a
white rabbit watching at the fly side. Beneath the circle, there are six black
or dark blue lines, of increasing width as they get closer of the lower side.
Concerning the rabbit, another name wore by Dilgo Khyentse was Rabsel Dawa
("Brilliant Moon"). As in China and
Japan, Tibetans see a rabbit in the moon.
Sources:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/62830439@N06/5794521143
https://www.flickr.com/photos/marc-p-1970/6593198397/sizes/o/in/photostream/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jurekschreiner/5158921992/sizes/l/in/photostream/
http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Dilgo_Khyentse_Rinpoche
I think, but I'm not sure, that this monastery also used a yellow flag with the
red silhouette of the emblem which appears on Nyingmapa school
flag.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/marc-p-1970/6583049035/sizes/o/in/photostream/
Corentin Chamboredon, 20 April 2014
![[Tibetan Buddhist flag]](../images/r/rel_b_ds.gif)
image by Tomislav Todorović, 14 November 2010
Tibetan Buddhist flag in Dharamsala, India
A flag hoisted over a
Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Dharamsala, India, was photographed on 2008-02-19
and posted at Flickr (link broken):
www.flickr.com/photos/mattlinden/4100349775/.
The colors were blue,
white, green, yellow and red; in the "combination color" field, this order was
changed, with yellow and red swapping places. As in the case of
Japanese Buddhist flags, the colors
certainly represent five Dhyani Buddhas, whose worshipping is the most
pronounced in Tibetan Buddhism.
Tomislav Todorović, 14 November 2010
![[Mahakala's flag]](../images/i/in_mahak.gif)
Mahakala (a.k.a. the Great Black Lord) is an important boddhisattva in Tibetan Buddhism.
A boddhisattva reached the state of Buddha, but willingly decided to
birth again in the real life (Samsara) to help the other forms of life on
their way to liberation from pain. Boddhisatvas are specific of the
so-called Mahayana ('to help the others', Great Vehicle) Buddhism, as
opposed to the original Theravada ('not to harm anyone', Small Vehicle).
Among the three forms of the Awaken Spirit, Mahakala/Avalokiteshvara
represents the Boddhisatva of Compassion. To make the things even more
difficult, each boddhisatva may appear under two expressions, one
peaceful and one incensed.
Mahakala is incensed. He rides a tiger or a snow lion and trample
underfoot a human or animal representation of the ego. He stands for the
force which destroys the illusion obstructing the access to awakening.
Mahakala is represented by a small statue in one of the temples of the
monastery of Shey (Ladakh). Interestingly, the statue is 'charged' with
several flags directly pinned into the deity's head. The flags are dark
green pennants with a red border and a white eye in the middle - I guess
to symbolize the awakening.
I saw several representations of Mahakala in Ladakhi and Zanskari
monasteries - he is probably the deity easiest to identify and usually
painted inside the temples over the entrance door, as a protecting deity.
Anyway, he was decorated with flags only in Shey temple.
Ivan Sache, 31 August 2001
![[Drukpa tradition]](../images/r/rel_drka.gif)
image by Corentin Chamboredon, 2 April 2007
This flag is used by Tibetan refugees living in
Darjeeling. It is called the Drukpa flag. So far it is used only as a print
image. Upper half: dark blue with yellow prayer wheel in upper right corner with
three Tibetan characters in its center. Lower half: red with a Buddhist symbol
of eternity in the lower left corner. Middle: a dragon, very similar to the
Bhutanese dragon (also with apples in its claws).
Roman Kogovsek, 11 July 2005
This is the flag of the Drukpa tradition of the Kagyupa school, which is the
main one in Bhutan and in several areas of Kham. The
website of the lineage explains this:
"The flag was designed by H.H. the Twelfth Gyalwang Drukpa.
The color BLUE symbolizes Chakrasamvara, the principal male deity of the Drukpa
lineage and a representation of Great Compassion. The color RED symbolizes Vajra
Yogini, the principal female deity of the Drukpa lineage and a representation of
Great Wisdom. The DHARMA WHEEL with Druk written in Tibetan represents the
teaching of the Universal Truth being spread by the Drukpa or the Dragon
lineage. The AUSPICIOUS KNOT represents the heart-essence of Bodhicitta. And the
WHITE DRAGON represents the yogic lineage of the Drukpa."
Source:
http://www.drukpa.com/drukpa_lineage/drukpa_lineage_main.htm
Corentin Chamboredon, 2 April 2007
A look:
http://www.drukpa-germany.com/?page_id=256
Jens Pattke, 15 March 2014
See also:
![[Drigung-Kagyü]](../images/r/rel_gloje.gif)
image by Corentin Chamboredon, 20 April 2014
Here is a flag from the Drigung-Kagyü subschool of Tibetan buddhism. It is
used by buddhist centers in Taiwan, Hong-Kong,
Macau and Japan.
The flag has a blue field. Near the upper border, there is the Hung symbol of
the school (a red sun inside a white moon, with a blue Hung syllable). Beneath
it come two lines of text, each of them are the name of the center. The first
one is white in traditional Chinese characters: 寶吉祥. The second is smaller, red
and in Tibetan letters: རཏྣ་ཤྲྰི་ཆོས་ཚོགས (wylie: ratna chos tshogs ; ratna is
the sanskrit word for jewel). Near the lower hoist, there is the logo of the
center in white and red : the silhouette of three flaming jewels, surrounded by
flames, and wrapped in silk.
I have to say that the first Chinese character is not the traditional but the
simplified one, because for some reason it kept its basic look whichever font I
used. The differences are minor, so I kept the simplified character instead.
Sources:
http://www.gloje.org/en/
http://www.gloje.org/en/wp-content/gallery/2008DKIWinterPuja/2008DKIWinter_39_2008_1114_144331.jpg
http://www.gloje.org/en/wp-content/gallery/20130224-25_long_life_puja_in_dehra_dun/Gloje_Photo_20130224_019.JPG
http://www.gloje.org/en/wp-content/gallery/20130224-25_long_life_puja_in_dehra_dun/Gloje_Photo_20130224_027.JPG
http://www.gloje.org/en/wp-content/gallery/20130224-25_long_life_puja_in_dehra_dun/Gloje_Photo_20130224_028.JPG
Corentin Chamboredon, 20 April 2014
See also:
