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Rang

🇳🇵 The colours of Nepal

7 meanings recorded, 6 colours tied to the country and 1 colour city.

Nepal’s flag features crimson red, the national colour, for bravery and the rhododendron flower, and a blue border for peace. The unique double-pennant shape reflects historical banners. The flag’s sun and moon symbols are linked to permanence, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Nepal’s geography.

crimson redBravery and the national flower, the rhododendron
bluePeace and harmony
white

Where no official value is given, the swatch shows the colour family, not the exact shade.

  • Nepal’s flag is the only national flag that is not rectangular.
  • Crimson red is both the flag’s main colour and the national colour of Nepal.
  • The blue border stands for peace and harmony.
  • The sun and moon symbols represent Nepal’s permanence and its main religions.
  • Earlier flags had green borders and faces on the sun and moon.

The colours of the flag of Nepal

Nepal’s flag is made of crimson red with a blue border and white emblems. Crimson red stands for bravery and is also the colour of the rhododendron, Nepal’s national flower. The blue border symbolises peace and harmony. The flag’s two shapes, joined as a double pennant, recall historic banners of Nepal’s rulers. The white sun and moon shapes are said to represent permanence, the country’s two main religions (Hinduism and Buddhism), and the varied climate: the moon for the cool Himalayas and the sun for the hot lowlands. These meanings are drawn from both official and popular sources.

National colours of Nepal

Crimson red is described as Nepal’s national colour. Both the red and blue of the flag are found in Nepalese art and decoration. The sources do not mention other uses of national colours in sport, livery, or state dress.

How the colours were chosen of Nepal

Nepal’s flag design comes from traditional double-pennant banners used by its ruling dynasties, inspired by Hindu religious flags called dhvaja. The modern flag, adopted in 1962, standardised older designs that had been used for centuries. Earlier versions sometimes had a green border instead of blue, and the sun and moon once had human faces, which were removed in 1962 to modernise the look. The flag’s colours and shapes reflect a blend of influences from the Gorkha and Mustang kingdoms. Despite calls for change in 2008, the flag’s traditional design was kept.

Official shades and rules of Nepal

Nepal’s flag has a detailed geometric specification in its constitution, covering size, shape, and construction. The aspect ratio is unique and irrational, due to the flag’s double-pennant form and blue border. Only the red field alone has a simple 3:4 ratio. International events sometimes alter the flag’s shape for uniformity, but Nepal is often allowed its original form.

Where this page comes from

The facts in this overview come from the Wikipedia article "Flag of Nepal", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Rang rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.

What colours mean in Nepal

Customs vary by region, faith and family; these are the meanings most often recorded.

Compare with another country
Red

Crimson is the national colour. It fills the flag, the only national flag that is not a rectangle, and it is the colour of the rhododendron, the national flower.

Politics and protestPrideSource: Flag of Nepal
Red

Married Hindu women wear red saris, red glass bangles and strings of red or green pote beads. At the Teej festival they dress in red, fast, sing and dance, and pray for their husbands' long lives.

Weddings and marriageFestival and celebrationJoySource: Teej
Red

At Dashain, elders press tika, a paste of rice, yoghurt and red vermilion, on the foreheads of younger relatives as a blessing.

Sacred and holyLuck and prosperitySource: Dashain
Orange

At Tihar, the festival of lights, doors and windows are hung with garlands of orange and yellow marigolds, and dogs and cows are garlanded too.

Festival and celebrationSacred and holyJoySource: Tihar (festival)
Green

Strings of Buddhist prayer flags come in five colours in a fixed order: blue for sky, white for air, red for fire, green for water and yellow for earth.

Sacred and holyProtection and healingHopeSource: Prayer flag
Blue

The blue border of the flag stands for peace. The crimson inside it is read as the bravery of the Nepali people.

Politics and protestCalmSource: Flag of Nepal
White

After a parent dies, a Hindu son traditionally shaves his head and wears only white for a year. Widows also wore white in many communities.

Mourning and deathGriefSource: Mourning

Colour and feeling in Nepal

Joy

At Holi, people throw coloured powder called gulal, most often pink and red, over family, friends and strangers to welcome spring.

Anger

In Tibetan Buddhist art of the Himalaya, wrathful protector deities are often painted dark blue, black or red. Their fury is read as fierce compassion.

Colour cities of Nepal

🇳🇵 Brick red and prayer flagsKathmanduRed-brick temples with carved dark wood, white stupas hung with prayer flags, and marigolds at festival time.

Colours tied to Nepal

FamilyRedOrangeYellowGreenTurquoiseBluePurplePinkBrownWhiteGreyBlackGold
KindBasic colourNamed shadePigmentDyeColour named from natureTraditional colourNational or team colourHeraldic colourStandard colourScreen colour
Made fromMineral or earthPlantAnimalSyntheticLight only (no pigment)
#DC143C Crimson A deep red with a hint of purple, once made from insectsNamed shade · 🇳🇵 Nepal

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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