Did the Ceylonese Government at the time of the Independence Act agree to have the Standard (a flag used as the symbol of a person, group, or organisation) of Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe on the flag when our national flag was finalised?
This was keeping with the proposal made by Sinna Lebbe, the MP of Batticaloa.
MP Lebbe rose in parliament and said: “This house is of the opinion that the Royal Standard of King Sri Wickrama Rajasinhe which depicts a yellow lion holding a sword in its right paw and placed in front of a red background, be adopted as the official flag of Sri Lanka.
The original flag was removed to England after the Convention of 1815.
But the personal flag of the King is very different from the flag brought by E.W. Perera from England and published by the Dinamina newspaper in 1915.
That was something new to the people of Ceylon and no one questioned it with due respect to E.W. Perera and D.R. Wijewardene, for their roles in bringing the flag of the Lion to Ceylon.
Three flags from ‘Ceylon’ were hanging on the Great Hall of Chelsea Hospital.
It was a common sight to view the flags of nations, claimed to have been captured by the British, to be hung over the pews of the Chelsea Hospital. It was a Chapel until World War II broke out and afterwards the flags were folded and left at the Tower of London until the cessation of hostilities. When they were removed after peace was achieved, the flags were in a damaged state and hence could not be flown. The British Army made drawings of what was left and they are today on the walls of the hall.
Out of the three flags, one was the standard of King Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe as depicted below.
The Chelsea Royal Hospital founded by King Charles II, was a military hospital. And three Kandyan flags taken away by Captain William Pollock were found there. These flags hung alongside other captured flags and colonial trophies from the colonies. The flags were dusty, threadbare and faded. They were placed with their identities.
During the birth of the Republic, Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike made a request in keeping with the request made MP Sinna Lebbe.
The late Dr. Roland Silva, former Director General of Archaeology, while taking the new design to Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike for approval, noticed that the lion in the logo had been masculinised. They didn’t have time to remove the addition made to the flag. So they explained the issue to Madam Bandaranaike, who saw no problem with the additions and approved the logo. This indicates that a new flag was designed for the Republic, but what came of it is unknown. Perhaps the design included the Royal Standard of Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe.
The design made by the Late Roland Silva was an amendment to the flag for the Republic. Plaques on the wall of Chelsea Hospital help in identifying them. He had proposed to have the Royal Standard of the King which is said to have been placed in the middle of the three flags. The Flag of the King was taken earlier to the Headquarters of the British Army in India to be shipped to London, to be laid at the feet of the King of England.
Source:Daily Mirror.lk