Flag of Eastern Province

History

With the Supreme Court ruling that by 2007 the 1987 order of merging the two provinces, under the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, Northern and Eastern was illegal and therefore the two provinces must be administered separately. This meant two separate flags for the Northern and Eastern provinces.

The Eastern Province flag was unveiled along with the flag of Northern Province in Trincomalee, in May 2007. The governor of the Eastern Province Rear Admiral Mohan Wijewickrema, also at the time the acting governor of the Northern Province, handed over the two flags to each of the province's respective council's chief secretary, S. Rangarajah of the North and Herath Abeyeweera of the East, at a ceremony at the Governor's Secretariat.

Symbolism

The three symbols on the Eastern Province flag symbolises the three districts of the province. The eagle symbolises Trincomalee, the fish Batticaloa and the lion Ampara.

Controversy

The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, the major political party for the Sri Lankan Moors, says that the new Eastern Province flag design does not represent the Muslim community. Hassan Ali, the Deputy Minister of Supplementary Crops Development, raised the issue at the adjournment debate in the House not accepting the new flag that did not symbolize the Muslim community.

References

References

1. Gunananda, A.T.M.. "North and East get separate flags". Sunday Times.
2. "Separate flags for North and East Provincial Councils". TamilNet.
3. "Two separate flags for de-merged NPCand EPC". The Island.
4. "Eastern Province (Sri Lanka)". FOTW.
5. "Sri Lanka Muslims deny acceptance of new Eastern Province flag". ColomboPage.