Tibetan Prayer Flags

You don’t have to have visited Tibet or Nepal to have seen these colourful flags, hung from terraces or rooftops, fluttering in the breeze. It is now quite common to see them adorning refuges as you hike in the Alps or even hung from people’s balconies in towns and cities around the world. What are the origins and what do they mean?

A prayer flag is a colourful rectangular or square cloth, many of which are strung together and hung between buildings, on bridges and on mountain passes and summits. They originated in Tibet and it is believed they were in fact initially used to as a kind of banner to distinguish warriors going into battle. It is only with the growth of buddhism from the 7th century onwards that they began to be associated with a symbology which promoted peace, compassion, strength and wisdom.

A string of prayer flags at Renjo La (pass -5360m) on the famous Three Passes trek, Nepal. Mt Everest in the background.

The flag is printed with prayers, mantras and religious icons and are purposely placed in high locations - not to elevate the prayers closer to the gods as many might naturally assume, but so the prayers and mantra may be caught by the wind and spread across the surrounding countryside to bless both the natural environment and the people. When the flags become faded it is actually a good sign as it means that the prayers have been carried away in the breeze.

Lung ta prayer flags enjoying a good breeze above Dingboche in The Everest region, Nepal. Ama Dablam in the background.

There are actually two kinds of prayer flags: horizontal ones called Lung ta (wind horse) and vertical ones called Dar chor (flagstaff). The Lung ta are hung from their top edge in long strings, between two buildings or adorning bridges that span the deep gorges of The Himalaya. The Darchor are usually larger and attached to a pole by a vertical edge. These may be placed around villages and buddhist temples.

Prayer flags come in sets of five and consist of five colours, always hung from left to right  in a specific order - blue, white, red, green and yellow. The five colours represent the five elements and again, perhaps not what one might initially imagine: blue symbolizes the wind, white symbolizes the air, red symbolizes fire, green symbolises water and yellow symbolizes the earth.

Lung ta and Dar chor style prayer flags in abundance at the UNESCO Boudhanah stupa in Kathmandu.

Each flag is printed with a combination of hundreds of mantra, sutra and prayers. One of the most common is OM MANI PADME HUNG. It is centred on the values of compassion, ethics, patience, diligence and wisdom. If you trek in the Himalaya you will undoubtedly hear this mantra recited repeatedly during mediation. It is believed to cure pride, jealousy, ignorance, greed and aggression.

There is usually also a Lung ta (wind horse) bearing three flaming jewels on its back. The ta (horse) symbolizes speed and the transformation from bad fortune to good. The three jewels symbolize Buddha, Dharma (Buddhist teachings) and Sangha (Buddhist community). In each corner of the flag, images or the names of four powerful animals are featured: the dragon, the garuda, the tiger and the snow-lion.

My 2018 team along with thousands of prayer flags left by trekkers and their Nepalese guides as they cross The Larkya La (pass -5135m) on the superb Manaslu circuit, Nepal.

It is popular to bring prayer flags back after trekking in the Himalaya and hang them in homes and on your property. This is not considered disrespectful and in fact fits well with the Buddhist ideals to spread these positive sentiments of compassion, strength and wisdom across the globe.