Edited sentence: It was used extensively by monarchs who followed King Vijaya and it became a symbol of freedom and hope.Since then the Lion symbol played a significant role in the history of Sri Lanka.The Sinhalese ethnic flag is displayed at right.When Vijaya, the first King of the island of Sri Lanka, arrived in Sri Lanka in 486 BCE, he brought with him a flag with a symbol of a lion on it.When the legendary King Dutugemunu embarked on the campaign in which he defeated the Indian King Elara, who had occupied part of Sri Lanka, he carried with him a banner which portrayed a lion carrying a sword on his right forepaw along with two other symbols, the Sun and the Moon