The Archdiocesan Flag

The flag is designed with three types of divisions that organize its six color fields: horizontal, vertical, and angular.

1. Horizontal Divisions

• White and Green separation
• Blue and Maroon separation

Together, these two lines split the flag into two horizontal zones:

• Upper strip (Celestial realm): White and Blue
• Lower strip (Terrestrial realm): Green, Yellow, Orange, Maroon

2. Vertical Divisions

• White and Blue separation
• Yellow and Orange separation

3. Angular Divisions

• Maroon and Orange separation
• Green and Yellow separation

The colors blue and white of the celestial realm stand for Divine Simplicity and Holiness (white), New Birth of Baptism and the Blessed Virgin Mary, the principal patroness of the Archdiocese (blue). The four contrasting colors of the terrestrial realm taken from the National Flag stand for the complexities of human life on earth that experiences Birth (green) and Death (orange), Joy (yellow) and Sorrow (red). This diversity of colors is held together by the Na flower Cross, to the center of which every color is oriented. The Latin cross shape touches every field of color on the flag with its arms. It is the symbol for all permeating and pervading universal salvific effect of the sacrifice made by Jesus Christ on the cross.

The colors have further significance. White stands for light and Blue for life. Color Red for Sinhalese Catholics and for St. Lawrence the patron of the city of Colombo. Color Orange for Tamil Catholics and for what is sacred and holy in the Asian culture. Yellow (White) represents the Papal and National Catholic Flags. It reminds of the Holy Father and the allegiance of the local church to the See of Rome. Yellow also represents the foreign missionaries of European, African and Asian descent and Eurasian Burgher Catholics of Sri Lanka. Green represents the extremely rare and few Catholics of Semitic, Persian and Arabic descent who arrived from the Middle Eastern region and settled in the island. Moreover, green represents St. Lucy virgin and martyr the patroness of the archdiocesan cathedral.

The Na flower cross is a unique creation made by fusing the Latin cross representing Jesus Christ and the Na flower representing His Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary. Na flower of the Ceylon Ironwood tree, the national tree, is a symbol of Our Lady of Lanka, to whom the National Basilica in Tewatta, situated within the boundaries of the archdiocese is dedicated. As much as it is a symbol of Our Lady of Lanka, the Na flower is also a symbol of the archdiocese of Colombo as it was envisioned by the Servant of God Thomas Cardinal Cooray. In the center disk of the Na flower is the archepiscopal cross, the symbol of the metropolitan archbishop of the archdiocese.

The Archdiocesan Flag is not merely decorative but a catechetical and symbolic proclamation of the Church's mission in Sri Lanka. It proclaims:

• Unity of diverse peoples under one faith.
• The balance between the joys and sorrows of earthly life.
• The hope and salvation brought by Christ through His cross.
• The maternal protection of Mary, Our Lady of Lanka, whose symbol, the Na flower, blossoms at the heart of the flag.

(Archdiocesan Heraldry and Flag were designed together by Rev. Frs. Christo Viraj, Nilantha Ediriwickrema and Gerald Ferreira in the year 2025)