United we stand? 

• A creative take on the Lankan flag 

With the current situation in our country becoming more and more stable, it seems as though the citizens have gained stability and unity despite race, ethnicity, and nationality. Recently, a fresh take on the Sri Lankan flag was doing the rounds on social media where the yellow separating the two colours was removed and all three colours were given prominence. 

 

Brunch spoke to Joshua Heby – the artist behind this recreation of the flag – to understand what message he was trying to convey with this. “I didn’t make this flag last night; I made it three years ago,” he told us, explaining that had he posted it back then, it would’ve meant something completely different.

He said he was motivated to do this because as an artist in Sri Lanka, he feels responsible for the artwork that represents our country. He told us that what he has done to the national flag is a small correction. “There are many flaws in our flag and much to be corrected – the meaning, the way it’s designed; from a designer’s point of view, I can spot many mistakes,” he told us, pointing out that he had made only one such correction to convey a message of equality. He also noted that this flag has so many other flaws too, but changing the flag completely will result in people feeling too alienated from the flag. “That is why I decided only to make a small change conveying this very important, timely message to the people of this country,” he said. 

“This artwork is meant to convey a simple message: We are all Sri Lankans, regardless of what language we speak and what our religious and racial background is,” he emphasised. He also explained that schoolchildren are taught that maroon means Sinhalese, orange means Tamils, and green means Muslims, observing that teaching young kids about racial differences and who the majority and minority are, will separate them at a very young age. “This should not be done! These three colours should represent the multicultural, diverse group of people living together as one in this country,” he strongly affirmed, adding that our national flag should represent the multicultural diversity, instead of racial separation and discrimination.

He further highlighted that this isn’t a perfect version of the flag; just one minor change was made to convey unity. “This idea of the flag is just to understand the opinion of the citizens so we can all come together and decide on what we want our flag to represent,” he told us, adding that he would like to see other artists come up with their own ideas and designs as well. 

Mixed reactions 

With this version of the flag circulating social media, many reactions from the public were seen. While many embraced this flag as a positive change, some had a few interesting takes to share.  Brunch spoke to a few individuals from various ethnicities to see what they feel about this take on our national flag. 

In conversation with former Human Rights Commissioner Ambika Satkunanathan, she shared that it is progress but there is still an issue. “The lion holding the sword is supposed to be illustrative of the supremacy of the Sinhala race. I view the sword as an instrument of violence.” Generally, she observed, having such a representation on a national flag may represent the supremacy of one ethnicity. Personally, she shared, based on the principles and values based on which she works, she finds swords or guns or such instruments of violence on a flag as unsuitable and raises the question about the message the flag is attempting to convey. 

In addition, according to her, in this flag, we find the symbol that is supposed to represent the majority community holding a symbol of violence, which seems to convey notions of conquering another. “In a society where minorities have been subjected to systemic and structural discrimination and violence by the State which has furthered the Sinhala Buddhist nationalist agenda, the proposed new flag takes a step towards being inclusive but it does not go far enough,” she observed. 

Nevertheless, she stated that she is glad someone thought of it and she is happy that we have been able to shift the conversation to issues that were previously considered sacred and untouchable. “The fact that it has gone to this length is great, but clearly it has to go further,” she stated.

Adding to this, local entrepreneur and educator Zahara Jawfer Tharique shared that she has mixed feelings about this animation. “Is it necessary?” she questioned, explaining that she doesn’t really want her national flag to change. “We are minorities. The majority takes more space in the flag because, well, they are the majority!” she told us, adding that she is happy being a minority, provided that majority and minority only refers to “number” and not rights and privileges. 

Essentially, she shared that we are all Sri Lankan – as represented in the flag. “I don’t want more,” she told us, adding: “But I for sure wouldn’t be okay with any less – if that makes sense.” 

We also spoke to activist Buwanaka Perera to understand his thoughts on this. “I don’t know whether we need to change the flag we have right now, but at the very least, we need to change the definition,” he told us. Where currently the colours represent ethnicities, he thinks the lion should represent Sri Lankans as a whole, yellow could represent our sun-oriented culture, green for our rich foliage, red for the blood spilled in lieu of independence, sovereignty, and freedom, and orange for the faith we hold close to our hearts. 

He pointed out that according to the law, it is illegal to change the flag, but noted: “I do believe we need to change what the symbols and colours signify as that is where inclusion happens; you can’t confine a cast or ethnicity to a particular strip of colour,” he shared, adding that if we are not equal, we should not have any representation.