- History
- Birth of Nepal
- Adoption of the first flag
- Adoption of the second and current flag
- Meaning
- Reference
The flag of Nepal is the only flag in the world with a shape other than the traditional four-sided rectangle that shapes the rest of the countries' national banners. It is one of the most difficult flags to produce on a large scale and, in fact, rectangular versions (using a white fill background) have been used to simplify its printing at official events, such as the Olympics.
The Nepalese flag functions both as the country's state flag and as the region's civilian banner. The original version of the flag was adopted in 1962. However, the previous version of the flag (which also featured a similar shape), had been in effect since 1742. It has been one of the longest-lived flags in human history.
A similar version of the flag existed in the kingdom of Mustang, which did have a traditional rectangular shape. However, the kingdom ceased to exist in 2008 by national decree of the government of Nepal. This brought about the unification of the kingdom with the Nepalese state and putting the region under the official flag of the Republic of Nepal.
History
Nepal was never colonized by the English during the British Raj in which the United Kingdom took control of several nations in the vicinity of the Nepalese country.
In fact, in 1923, Nepal and the United Kingdom signed an agreement that guaranteed Nepal's sovereignty in the eyes of the world. Thus, Nepal has managed to remain relatively independent for most of its history.
Birth of Nepal
Nepal was born after the unification of the various kingdoms that made up the territory that the country now occupies. From very early in its history, Nepal was divided into kingdoms of local leaders who were charged with keeping its people prosperous and happy.
During medieval times, the rulers of the kingdoms of Nepal suffixed all of their names with the word "mesh", which meant "fighter" in the local language. Each ruler maintained his territory as a sovereign state for more than 200 years.
In the mid-18th century, one of the Gorkha kings of the region, known as Prithvi Narayan Shah, embarked on a mission to unify all of Nepal's territories under one banner. Naturally, this resulted in a bloodbath that ended the lives of warriors and inhabitants of the region who were involved.
Adoption of the first flag
By 1743, most of Nepal was already unified under the Gorkha banner of Narayan Shah. It was in this year that the country adopted, for the first time, the official flag of Nepal.
The country came to control much more territory than it has today. Regions of India used to belong to Nepal as well, and the country entered a bloody dispute with the Chinese Empire for control of the Tigris valleys. The defeat of Nepal in this war caused the country to have to pay tribute to the Chinese.
However, Nepal never ceased to be an independent kingdom after its formation. The stability of the country was reflected in its flag, which never had to change it in its history. This has allowed it to be one of the longest-lived flags in history.
Unlike the current version, the two white symbols that occupy the flag have faces and the left edge of the flag is non-existent.
Adoption of the second and current flag
The history of Nepal, beyond the fact that its flag has been quite similar for almost its entire existence, has been full of turbulence. Many political changes have occurred during good parts of Nepalese history.
The differences between the king and the subsequent democratic government that emerged in the country were marked and defined by betrayals and internal power struggles.
However, in 1962 it was decided to modernize the flag under the premise of creating a more stable and democratic government. The modernization led to the inclusion of a blue border on the left side of the flag, which was previously absent. With this, the border around the entire banner was completed.
Also, both sides of the symbols were removed. The flag uses symbolism that had been used by the kingdoms of Nepal during their medieval times; from there are born both white symbols present on the flag.
With this, in 1962 the formation of a new democratic constitutional government was marked, giving more power to government entities and leaving monarchical hegemony a little further behind. This flag remains to this day.
Meaning
The flag of Nepal is shaped, according to historians of the country, by the mountains that make up much of the region. That is, both "peaks" represent the mountains of the country. These peaks are also referred to as "banners." The flag, in fact, is a simple combination of two banners unified under the same form.
On each peak there is a white emblem. These emblems are a full sun at the bottom and a crescent moon.
The inclusion of these emblems on the flag was made with the intention of representing the longevity of the country. It is said that the republic must exist for as long as the sun and the moon do, and that is why both symbols are part of the flag.
The red that runs throughout the flag represents courage. It is also the color of the country's national flower, known as the rhododendron. The blue color that runs along the entire outer edge of the flag represents peace, giving a balanced balance to the strongest red that fills the banner.
The reason for the removal of the faces that were on the symbols was done with the intention of modernizing the flag; it had no deeper meaning.
Reference
- Flag of Nepal, Wikipedia, 2019. Wikipedia.org
- The History Behind the Flag of Nepal, Color Culture, 2018. Bergerpaints.com
- Flag of Nepal - A Brief History, Flagmakers, 2019. Flagmakers.co.uk
- Nepal, Wikipedia, 2019. Wikipedia.org
- Upper Mustang, Wikipedia, 2019. Wikipedia.org