Last modified: 2015-08-13 by zoltán horváth
Keywords: tibet | derge se | tibetan flag variant |
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image by Corentin Chamboredon, 20 March 2014
I found a new Tibetan flag. We can see a photograph of it in The Story of Tibet: Conversations
with the Dalai Lama, written by Thomas Laird and the 14th Dalai Lama. You can
find the book on Google Books. The photo
is on the third plate (p. 264) and its caption on the next one.
The caption reads: "General Derge Sey's Tibetan flag (facing, top left), Markham, Tibet, 1949. It
was probably given to the Chinese when Derge Sey surrendered in 1950."
And we can read in the list of illustrations (p. XV):
"p. 8. Top left, photograph of the Tibetan Flag, which belonged to General Derge
Sey, the Tibetan general who surrendered to Chinese in 1950 at Markham, Tibet,
1949. Photograph by Ellis R. Back: shot on a kodachrome slide, in Markham."
Derge Se, born Phuntsok Dorje, was the son of the prince of Derge, in eastern
Tibet. He fled from a Chinese invasion in 1908 to go to Lhasa where he was
appointed General in the Tibetan Army.
Despite its little size, we can zoom on the flag (thanks to Google). It is
basically the Tibetan flag, but it seems square rather than rectangular. We can
see on the hoist three piece of cloth lighter than the golden / yellow border:
two squares on top and bottom and a triangle in the middle. I guess this is the
Tibetan heading system. Unlike the Tibetan flag, there are no flaming jewels
above the wishing gem in the lions' paws (they only raise their background
paws). Instead, there is a red or orange (it's hard to say as the colours have
waned) kalachakra symbol, but the lions don't hold it. Finally, there is a
golden "da" letter (ད, if I'm correct) above the sun. This letter
probably stands for "dapön" (General).
Some words about the Kalachakra : the word is used both for a tantric deity and
its philosophy and practices. Its symbol is called the "The Tenfold Powerful
One" and consists of an ornamental ring of fire, then the main symbol which
combines seven individual syllables, on top are a crescent, a disc and a curved
shape, making ten. The syllabes are written in lantsa script. Surrounding the
main symbol is a kind of frame made of flames, which corresponds to the
outermost "Circle of Wisdom" of the mandala. On the left and right of the actual
Tenfold Powerful symbol are the Lantsa characters for E and VAM, representing
the union of respectively emptiness (E) and bliss (VAM).
More information at:
kalachakranet.org
Corentin Chamboredon, 2 December 2008