The Nepal flag became official on December 16, 1962. The flag is an odd shape: it’s the only national flag in the world that is not a square or rectangle. The left side of the flag is straight and there are two points on the right side, almost like two right triangles on top of one another.
The flag’s blue border stands for peace. The red background of the flag is the same color as Nepal’s national flower, the rhododendron.
There are two white pictures inside the Nepal flag: one a crescent moon, representing the royal house, and the other a sun, members of the Rana family who served as prime ministers of Nepal until 1961. Today, however, the sun and the moon are also said to symbolize the hope that Nepal will last as long as these two aspects of nature.
In the Hindu religion, however, the Nepalese flag has much deeper meaning. Both the sun and the moon and the red and the blue colors on the flag create a balance. The sun, a symbol of fire, provides heat necessary for life, creating nourishment for all living beings. The sun is linked to ancient Vedic rituals, the twelve months, and the twelve zodiac signs. The moon, in turn, is the symbol of Elixir, which is believed to give eternal life.
In many religions, including Hinduism, rituals are performed with lunar cycles. Many Hindus see the sun as the center of the planets in our solar system and the moon as the center of the asteroids; similarly, they view the sun as a symbol of the soul and the moon as a symbol of the heart.
The colors in the flag also create a balance. The red symbolizes closeness and heat, while the blue symbolizes distance and coolness. Red signifies fire and blood, and the blue creates balance by signifying the sky and sea. Many Hindus think of red as a color of bravery, love, energy, and good luck, and they think of blue as a color of wisdom, peace, and calmness.
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