ශ්‍රී ලංකා ධජ ලැයිස්තුව

The Golden colour Lion that carries a sword and the four Bo leaves at the four corners in the maroon colour background represents the Kandy District.

The white layout represents Matale District and Nuwaraeiya District which represents the Upcountry is symbolised by the white lotus. The Sun and Moon are for Eternity.

Furthermore, King Dutugamunu left the Magam Kingdom with the lion flag ahead for the battle to unite the country. The flag is a picture of a yellow lion on a red blood colour background. Accordingly, it was decided to use for the Southern Provincial flag the picture of the lion running with a small sword (iluk koolaya) in its forepaw of the Ruhuna flag and the red colour and yellow colour of the flag taken on the war front by King Dutugamunu.

It was decided to use the same for the Southern Province flag mixture of colours and the standard to represent all communities in Galle, Matara, and Hambantota and four bo leaves (Metta, Karuna, Muditha, Upeksha) of the national flag.

It was agreed that the forms of the sun and moon of the flag of Southern Province flag should be in the same forms as the sun and moon of the flag of Devinuwara Devalaya and that the same form that of the flag of Hambantota District. Accordingly, it was expected to keep the integration of Galle, matara and Hambantota. Therefore, the Southern Province flag can be considered a combination of several traditional flags.

The small sword (iluk Koolaya) is the symbol of control, but it does not reflect terror or suppression. The small sword represents Justice and fairness. Running lion represents velocity fearlessness and pride.

The sun and moon stand for stability prosperity and augustness. It expresses the traditional saying "Until the sun and moon exists". The sun and moon of the flag are considered to be symbols of victory. The combination of colours around the flag depicts the existence of Southern Sri Lanka, victorious war history, religion and patriotism, mutual cooperation and harmony

The flag that was gifted to Uva Province by the King Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe who ruled the kingdom of Kandy during the period 1798–1815 can be seen even today at the National Museum ( Courtesy: Book entitled “Uva Ithihasaya” by Panditha Naulle Dhammananda Thero )