Buddhism

The Buddhist flag is a flag used by Buddhists throughout the world. It consists of five vertical stripes of blue, yellow, red, white, and orange, with a thinner version of the same design arranged horizontally on the fly.
== History ==
The flag was originally designed in 1885 by the Colombo Committee, in Colombo, Ceylon (now called Sri Lanka). The committee consisted of Ven. Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Thera (chairman), Ven. Migettuwatte Gunananda Thera, Don Carolis Hewavitharana (father of Anagarika Dharmapala), Andiris Perera Dharmagunawardhana (maternal grandfather of Anagarika Dharmapala), Charles A. de Silva, Peter De Abrew, William De Abrew (father of Peter), H. William Fernando, N. S. Fernando and Carolis Pujitha Gunawardena (secretary).
It was first publicly hoisted on Vesak day on May 28, 1885 at the Dipaduttamarama, Kotahena, by Ven. Migettuwatte Gunananda Thera. It was the first Vesak public holiday under British rule.
Colonel Henry Steel Olcott, an American journalist, founder and first president of the Theosophical Society, felt that its long streaming shape made it inconvenient for general use. He suggested modifying it so that it was the size and shape of national flags.
In 1889, the modified flag was introduced to Japan by Anagarika Dharmapala and Olcott, who presented it to Emperor Meiji, and subsequently to Burma.
At the 1950 World Fellowship of Buddhists, the flag was adopted as the international Buddhist flag.
== Symbolism ==
The flag's six vertical bands represent the six colors of the aura which Buddhists believe emanated from the body of the Buddha when he attained Enlightenment.
* Blue: The Spirit of Universal Compassion
* Yellow: The Middle Way
* Red: The Blessings of Practice – achievement, wisdom, virtue, fortune and dignity
* White: The Purity of Dhamma – leading to liberation, timeless
* Orange, alternatively scarlet: The Wisdom of the Buddha's teachings 
The sixth vertical band, on the fly, is made up of a combination of the five other colors' rectangular bands, and represents a compound of said colors in the aura's spectrum. This new, compound color is referred to as the Truth of the Buddha's teaching or Pabbhassara (lit. 'essence of light').
Category:Religion
Category:Blue
Category:Yellow
Category:Red
Category:White
Category:Orange
Category:Stripes
Category:Proportions 2-3