Nepal is a sovereign country with its own unique traditional flag whose basic design dates back for centuries. It is the only flag in the world that is non-quadrilateral i.e not a square or a rectangle.

Prithivi Narayan Shah adopted the flag after unifying the smaller principalities in Nepal. The flag has a crimson background with blue border around the unique shape of two overlapping right triangles called pennants. The upper pennon has a white moon emitting 8 rays and the lower pennon displays a white sun with 12 rays.  

Each and every part of the flag has a certain meaning that it represents, which has changed though time.  Such as back in the day, the two pennants represented the two rival branches of the ruling dynasty. The moon stands for the royal house whereas the sun symbolized a branch of the ruling Rana family. The crimson color represented the color of the Rhododendron (the national flower of Nepal) also it is a sign of victory and bravery. The blue border signified peace and harmony.

Now in modern times, the concept of the flag has changed to have a different meaning. The two pennants represent the colossal Himalayan Mountains abundant in the country. The Moon and the sun also carry their own representation in current times, such as both the celestial bodies indicate the permanence of Nepal till the infinite times. The moon represents the calm and pure nature of Nepalese whereas the sun symbolized the fierceness, whenever called upon. Furthermore, the moon also symbolizes the cool weather of the Himalayas, whereas the sun symbolizes the heat and the high temperature of the Nepali lowlands.

Credit @ Suneeta Shrestha

Email: sunitstha749@gmail.com