Prayer Flags

Before I started learning about Tibet the one thing which I always thought of when someone mentioned Tibet was a string of colorful rectangular flags. I had no idea what the flags stood for, or if they represented or meant anything of any importance. I always thought they were very pretty and gave Tibet a certain exotic appeal, for some unexplainable reason. Now, after researching about Tibet I have educated myself on the significance of the "string of flags" and have at the same time come to a new understanding of Tibetan culture.


Tibetan prayer flags, as they are called, play a substantial role in Tibetan culture. There are two types of flags which depend on the way the flag is hung, either horizontal Lung ta or vertical Darchor. Lung ta flags are commonly hung at a diagonal slope from high to low. They are usually found on monasteries or temples. Darchor flags are larger than Lung ta and are usually planted on poles situated in the ground or on the tops of mountains.

The color and the order by which the flags are hung are very important. Prayer flags come in sets of five separate colors, each color represents an element such as :green -wind/air , or yellow=earth. The prayer flags are used to promote various emotions such as happiness, strength, peace, and wisdom. The movement of the flag in the winds is believed to cleanse the air and purify the surrounding area. Prayer flags are continually renewed in order to renew the wrodl they live in this mirrors the constant renewal and recycling of the earth in its space within the universe.

I now understand the significance of prayer flags and how they contribute to the way by which the people of Tibet make sense of the world they live in. Now when I see Tibetan prayer flags in pictures or in texts I read I do not think of the simple physical appearance of the flags but of the connection they represent between the Tibetan people and the world they live in. This is a type of connection, that between individual and world, which is not stressed in my own culture.