 | |
| Snow Lion Flag | |
| Use | National flag  |
|---|---|
| Proportion | 5:8 |
| Adopted | 1916; 109 years ago (1916) |
| Design | Two snow lions beneath a flaming blue, white and orange jewel and holding a blue and orangetaijitu on a white mountain with a gold sun rising over it, all over 12 red and blue alternating rays with a gold border around the upper, lower, and hoist side of the flag. |
.svg) | |
| Use | Civil andstate flag,national ensign  |
| Proportion | 5:8 |
| Design | Original design from 1916 to 1951 |
Thenational flag ofTibet (བོད་ཀྱི་རྒྱལ་དར།), also unofficially known as theSnow Lion Flag, depicts a white snow-covered mountain, a yellow sun with red and blue rays emanating from it, twoTibetan snow lions, a multi-coloured jewel representingBuddhist values, ataijitu and a yellow border around three of its four sides. The flag was used as the national flag of the independent country ofTibet from 1916 until 1951, when Tibet wasannexed by thePeople's Republic of China.[1] It was adopted by the13th Dalai Lama in 1916[2] and used in Tibet until theTibetan uprising of 1959, after which the flag was outlawed in the People's Republic of China.[3] While the Tibetan flag is illegal in Tibet today as it is governed by the PRC as theTibet Autonomous Region,[4] it continues to be used by theCentral Tibetan Administration, the Tibetan government-in-exile based inDharamshala inIndia,[5] and by pro-Tibet groups all over the world to show support forhuman rights in Tibet andTibetan independence.[6][7]
According to theCentral Tibetan Administration, the Tibetan flag has the following symbolism:
In February 1913, shortly after the fall of theQing dynasty, the13th Dalai Lama, Tibet's political and spiritual leader, declared independence from China and began modernising theTibetan army.[8] According to Tsarong Dasang Dadul, the commander-in-chief of the modern Tibetan army, in 1916, a new national flag was adopted by the Dalai Lama and all army regiments were ordered to carry the flag in its present form.[9] Gyalten Namgyal, tailor to both the 13th and 14th Dalai Lamas wrote, "When I was fourteen, the Dalai Lama decided he wanted a Tibetan national flag made, and designed it himself. When a prototype was approved and the first flag commissioned, I was the one to execute the work."[10]
In addition to being carried by Tibet's army, the flag was displayed on public buildings of theGanden Phodrang government. Historical footage shows the flag flying at the foot of thePotala Palace, the site of the Dalai Lama's government in Tibet.[11] The snow lion flag motif was also used on a flag seen by English diplomat, SirEric Teichman, flying above a Tibetan government building during the 1917–1918 hostilities betweenSichuan and Tibet: "Over the Kalon Lama’s residence ... floats the banner of Tibet, a yellow flag bearing a device like a lion in green, with a white snow mountain and a sun and moon in the corner."[12]
Outside of Tibet, the flag was featured in publications by foreign governments, reference books, academic journals, and in culturally significant works up until 1959.[13] One of its first official international appearances was in a British Crown publication in 1923, "Drawings of the Flags in Use at the Present Time by Various Nations."[14] It was also included in theGerman Ministry of Defense'sNaval Command,"Flaggenbuch," in 1926[15] and in the ItalianNaval Ministry's"Raccolta delle Bandiere Fiamme e Insegne in uso presso le Diverse Nazioni" in 1934.[16]National Geographic Magazine featured the flag in their 1934 “Flags of the World” edition. The caption reads, "Tibet.- With its towering mountain of snow, before which stand two lions fighting for a flaming gem, the flag of Tibet is one of the most distinctive of the East."[17] Beginning in 1928, images of the flag were also widely published by companies in Europe, North America, South America, the Middle East, and Oceania in national flag collections on various forms oftrading cards.[18]
The flag's first appearance at an international gathering was in March–April 1947 at theAsian Relations Conference inNew Delhi.[19] The Conference, organised by PanditJawaharlal Nehru, hosted Asian states and anti-colonial movements. The representative of the British government of India in Lhasa,Hugh Richardson, personally shared the invitation from theIndian Council of World Affairs with the Tibetan Foreign Office and advised that the conference was a good opportunity to show Asia and the world that Tibet was de facto an independent country.[20] At the conference, leaders of each of the thirty-two delegations sat on a dais behind a plate with the name and flag of their country.[21] American historianA. Tom Grunfeld asserts that the conference was not government-sponsored, and so Tibet's and the Tibetan flag's presence had "no diplomatic significance", adding that the flag was removed after representatives from theRepublic of China protested to conference organisers who then issued a statement thatJawaharlal Nehru had invited the Tibetan delegates "in a personal capacity."[22][23] A Tibetan delegate who attended the conference claims that this did not occur and the only existing photos from the conference show the flag displayed along with other participating countries' flags.[24]
After thePeople’s Liberation Army invaded Tibet and the17-Point Agreement was signed, the flag continued to be used in the 1950s under the Chinese government, although the flag's status was unclear. Many in theChinese Communist Party felt that the usage of the flag indicatedseparatism, but the Tibetan local government at the time stressed that the flag was an army flag (the Tibetan army continued to exist parallel toPeople's Liberation Army infantries) and not a national flag.Phuntso Wangye claims thatMao Zedong discussed the flag in 1955 conversation with the14th Dalai Lama. According to the story, Mao told the Dalai Lama thatZhang Jingwu,Zhang Guohua, andFan Ming told him that Tibet had a "national flag". The Dalai Lama replied that Tibet had an army flag. Reportedly, Mao replied that "you may keep your national flag". There is no official recognition of this conversation by the Chinese government however.[3]
During this period before 1959, the flag continued to be recognised internationally as a national flag in reference books and by foreign governments. When the Dalai Lama visited the Himalayan kingdom ofSikkim in 1956 the Tibetan flag was used by the Sikkimese government to welcome him. The flag can be seen in historic footage flying on the same flagpole alongside the flag of Sikkim at theChogyal’sTsuklakhang Palace and on the Dalai Lama’s motorcade provided by the royal family.[25]
American anthropologistMelvyn Goldstein argues that while the Tibetan flag was used by the army, few Tibetans in Tibet knew about it so when they wanted to protest against the Chinese government, they would use the flag ofChushi Gangdruk instead.[26] Tibetan historian, Jamyang Norbu, has challenged this assertion citing incidents of the Tibetan public’s regard for the flag as their national symbol.[27]
After the1959 Tibetan Uprising, the14th Dalai Lama left his position asRuler of Tibet, denounced the 17-Point Agreement with the PRC, and established the exileCentral Tibetan Administration in India. As part of his project to inculcate pan-Tibetan nationalism (of allTibetan people and not just those in his previous domain of theTibet Autonomous Region), he standardised and adopted symbols as nationalist symbols, such as theLhasa dialect of Tibetan, aTibetan national anthem, and the flag.[28] The flag is popularly known as the Snow Lion flag due to the presence of the two snow lions.[29] The flag was adopted as a symbol of theTibetan independence movement, and has become known as the "Free Tibet flag".[30][31] Through the diaspora's and international protesters' use of the flag, it became known and used in protest by the Tibetan public.[28] The flag is banned inmainland China.[29][30]
![Duke University student Grace Wang Qianyuan [fr] during her speech on Free Tibet in 2008.](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3a2008_Duke_University_Student_Grace_Wang_Qianyuan_Explains_Idea_of_Free_Tibet_in_Public_%25E7%25BE%258E%25E5%259C%258B%25E6%259D%259C%25E5%2585%258B%25E5%25A4%25A7%25E5%25AD%25B8%25E5%25A5%25B3%25E5%25AD%25B8%25E7%2594%259F%25E7%258E%258B%25E5%258D%2583%25E6%25BA%2590%25E5%259C%25A8%25E8%25A5%25BF%25E8%2597%258F-%25E5%259C%2596%25E5%258D%259A%25E9%259B%25AA%25E5%25B1%25B1%25E7%258D%2585%25E5%25AD%2590%25E6%2597%2597%25E8%2588%2587%25E5%2585%25AC%25E7%259C%25BE%25E5%2589%258D%25E9%2597%25A1%25E9%2587%258B%25E8%2587%25AA%25E7%2594%25B1%25E8%25A5%25BF%25E8%2597%258F-%25E5%259C%2596%25E5%258D%259A%25E7%2590%2586%25E5%25BF%25B5.jpg)
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The flag of Tibet does not have its own emoji.[32] Tibetan activists unsuccessfully petitioned theUnicode Consortium for a Tibet flag emoji in 2019.[33]Wired noted thatTaiwan, where China's sovereignty is also challenged, has an emoji for its flag.[33] However,Wired also noted that a Tibetan flag emoji may open aPandora's box of similar requests from other unrecognised states and independence movements.[33]
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In 2012, Tibetan Prime MinisterLobsang Sangay was photographed with the flag of Tibet inLadakh, India, prompting the Chinese government to issue a statement criticizing the public display of the flag. The Indian government had previously promised the Chinese government that it would not allow anti-China political activities by Tibetan exiles on Indian territory.[34]
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{{cite news}}:|last2= has generic name (help)When I was fourteen, the Dalai Lama decided he wanted a Tibetan national flag made, and designed it himself. When a prototype was approved and the first flag commissioned, I was the one to execute the work.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Employing symbols that reinforce Tibetan national identity, he begins by invoking the banned Tibetan national flag.
Chinese media is criticizing a reported move by the Tibetan government in exile to unfurl a flag representing its idea of "Tibetan national flag" on the shores of Bangong Lake, known as Pangong Lake in India, in Ladakh.
