Buddhism

For other photos of Buddhist flags with the fky stripe wider than the others see http://www.buddhanet.net/bodhi-tree//a>, http://www.dharmashop.com/details.mgi?NUM=pf022, or http://www.prayerflags.com/display.asp?catid=4&pid=39. Interestingly the last two examples substitute burgundy for saffron, with the following explanation given at the www.prayerflags.com web page: "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. "
Ned Smith, 3 May 2007

image by J. Ehrlich Zdvorak I saw this flag in Korea on several Buddhist institutions and temples. Korean Buddhism (mostly Son, or Zen) is Mahayana Buddhism. In this case, this swastika is, of course, something completely different than the one which national-socialist ideology had used in twentieth century.
J. Ehrlich Zdvorak 21 December 2000

The yellow field represents Dharma, the lessons from Buddha as well as his body.
The red frame within the yellow field represents the effort needed to reach spirituality.
The red wheel is the Dharma wheel that Buddha had thrown when he gave his first lesson to the five Kundinya brothers.
The eight rays of the wheel represent the octuple way of the four truths.
The letters LS in the middle of the wheel stand for Linh Son.

The congregation was founded in 1975 in Joinville-le-Pont, near Paris, by Dr. Thich Huyen Vi who had studied for 13 years in India and had left Vietnam after the fall of Saigon. Linh Son means "sacred mountain". This refers to a moutain in India called Ky Xa Quat or Linh Tuu Son [I guess these are Vietnamese names], where Buddha used to give lessons and meet his disciples. There are now 8 Linh Son communities in France, one in Belgium and one in United Kingdom.

Source: L. Philippe in Franciae Vexilla #16/62, December 1999.
Ivan Sache, 19 December 1999

Buddhist flags in Nepal

Flag seen on monasteries of Tibetan schools:

image by Roman Kogovsek

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

Flags of unknown significance:

image by Roman Kogovsek

image by Ivan Sarajcic, 7 November 2005

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

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

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 agin 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 evern 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

The problem with this banner is that it usually does not look like a 'regular' banner. Inside the temples, the banner is made of a long vertical cylinder wrapped with pieces of colour fabric which look exactly like ties, usually hanging from the temple ceiling. The banner of victory is also placed very often on the roofs and terraces of the monasteries, as (multi)coloured cylinders often topped with a trident.

This message ends my series about flags in Ladakh and Zanskar. I have tried to report and explain everything flag-related I saw there. Once again, my interpretations are probably flawed by my limited knowledge of Tibetan Buddhism. I thank Ms. Lobsang Darmla, our local young guide in Leh, who answered with competence and knowledge to all our questions about Buddhism, including the most fanciful. Her discrete generosity and beautiful smile, added to her deep religious knowledge, should remain among the strongest remembrances of my travel.
Ivan Sache, 31 August 2001

Master Lu Sheng-Yen is a self-styled 'living Buddha' who eats meat and drinks alcohol, thereby considered a heretic by mainstream Buddhism.
Miles Li, 12 April 2001

Pure Land Buddhism

  recoloured from image by António Martins-Tuválkin 27 November 2001

The Japanese sect of Pure Land Buddhism known as "Jodo Shin Shu" uses the Buddhist flag as shown on the FOTW website. However, the Orange fields are replaced with pink and that is the only difference. I have grown up in the Japanese community and have attended temple since I was a Dharma School student (like Sunday School). I have been staring at the Jodo Shin Shu Flag in our Temple for many years sitting there in the congregation. The US flag hold the place of honor next to the altar and the Jodo Shin Shi flag on the opposite side. I only remember this because we have a Boy and Girl scout troop at the temple and they often use the flags in scouting ceremonies (i.e., taking the scout oath and receiving the Sangha or Padma scout religious medals for Buddhism). Our Sensei once brought out the flag during a sermon and explained the flag and the difference between it and the World Buddhist Flag.
Shaku Seiju, 5 March 2005

On the current Los Angeles Buddhist Temple website (called Nishi Hongwanji Los Angeles Betsuin ) there is a section on their site that shows Buddhist symbols. The Buddhist flag is one of them: http://www.nishihongwanji-la.org/church/buddhism/jodo_shinshu.html

The description that accompanies the photo of the flag is 'The first five stripes of the flags are self-colors of blue, yellow, red, white and light red. The sixth color is a combination of the five. The flag symbolizes the unity and harmony of Buddhists.'

Earlier I stated that the fifth color was "pink". However in the description here, it is listed as light red. I'm sure when you look at the photo you might agree that it looks pink like I had stated.
Shaku Seiju, 23 June 2005

Drukpa tradition, Bhutan

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

Nyingmapa Order of Tibetan Buddhism

image located by Corentin Chamboredon, 8 April 2007

Source: http://www.zambala.com/images/Nyingmapa%20flag.JPG

Here is a flag presented as the flag of the Nyingmapa order of the Tibetan buddhism. I found it in the Google's cache for a commercial website selling different Buddhist items. They told me it was really used as a religious order flag. It has a turquoise blue field. There is a very complicated central device. It is a piece of traditional Tibetan art, with different colours. On top there is a burning sword on an altar. Just in front of it we can see what I suppose to be a Tibetan book (in Tibet, books have a different shape than occidental ones, they are larger than longer and open backward and not leftward as ours). The altar is supported by lotus flowers and surrounded by green and blue leaves. There are also two birds on each side (green on the right, red on the left).  The lotus flowers root in the water. The final element is a red scroll with Tibetan script on the left and right, and the word NYINGMAPA in the center in Latin letters.
Corentin Chamboredon, 8 April 2007