Nepal

Hundreds of Nepalis, including officials, participated in a rally organised in Kathmandu to observe Nepal’s national flag day on Friday. 
 
It day marks the official recognition of the present double-triangle flag of Nepal by the constitution on December 16, 1962. The 2015 constitution of Nepal too adopted the 1962 flag. 
 
An organisation called Rastriya Dharohar Samrakshyan Pratishthan (national heritage conservation academy) has demanded that the government declare the national flag day as the national day.

Official description

 
Article 8 of the Constitution of Nepal, issued on September 20, 2015 describes Nepal’s national flag thus:
 
(1) The national flag of Nepal consists of two juxtaposed triangular figures with a crimson-coloured base and deep blue borders, there being a white emblem of the crescent moon with eight rays visible out of sixteen in the upper part and a white emblem of a twelve rayed sun in the lower part. 

(2) The method of drawing out the flag and other particulars relating thereto shall be as provided for in Schedule-1. 9. 

Dishonouring prohibited

Dishonouring or destroying Nepal’s national flag is a criminal offence. 

Article 151 of the National Penal (Code) Act, 2017 prohibits dishonouring or destroying the flag of Nepal, or the national anthem of coat-of-arms (the national emblem). 

A person committing or causing to be committing such offence, it says, “shall be shall be liable to a sentence of imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or a fine not exceeding thirty thousand rupees or both the sentences”. 

History

 
Before the birth of India in 1947, triangular flags were common across South Asia, which boasted numerous states and kingdoms. 
 
Historians say that the flag of the Gorkha Kingdom was single triangular too. But after Prithvi Narayan Shah unified smaller principalities into one and founded modern Nepal, the flag became double triangular. 
 
His grandson, Rana Bahadur Shah, reportedly added facial features on the sun and the moon. But that was changed in the newer version.
 
As a separate, sovereign country, Nepal has been proudly flying its traditional double-triangle flag. The unique design is considered rare in the world. 

With crimson as the background colour, and the dark blue border, its basic design dates back centuries. 

The white moon in the upper triangle emits eight rays. And the white sun has 12 rays. 

Experts say the two symbols “express the hope that the country may have the same longevity as the sun and moon”. 

The old flag, recognised before December 16, 1962, used to have facial features on the sun and the moon.