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The Spellbook · Blessings

The Spellbook · Buddhism

How and When to Hang Tibetan Prayer Flags

How and when to hang Tibetan prayer flags: the five colours, the wind horse, choosing an auspicious day, the right motivation and care of old flags.

  • TraditionTibetan Buddhist and Himalayan folk practice, medieval period to the present
  • ForBlessings, Luck, Peace
  • DifficultySimple
  • Time1 hour
  • WhenA morning on an auspicious day of the Tibetan calendar, ideally sunny and breezy; most often at Losar, the Tibetan New Year
Tibetan Buddhist prayer flags outside Kagyu Samye Dzong London, Carlisle Lane, Lambeth.
Tibetan Buddhist prayer flags outside Kagyu Samye Dzong London, Carlisle Lane, Lambeth.Secretlondon · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Tibetan prayer flags are squares of coloured cloth printed with mantras, prayers and the image of the lungta, the "wind horse". They are strung across mountain passes, rooftops and bridges throughout the Himalayan world. Tibetans believe that as the wind passes over the printed prayers it carries their blessing outward to all beings, and that hanging flags also raises the good fortune and vitality of the person who hangs them. Unlike the tantric practices of Tibetan Buddhism, hanging prayer flags is open to everyone.

How to do it§

  1. Obtain proper flags. Choose flags printed with genuine mantras and the wind horse, ideally from a Tibetan or Himalayan source. A standard set runs in five colours in a fixed order from left to right: blue, white, red, green, yellow. These are usually explained as space, air, fire, water and earth, though Tibetan teachers do not all assign the elements in the same way.
  2. Choose the day. Tibetans consult the almanac (lo tho), which lists favourable days and days to avoid. If you have no almanac, choose a morning in the waxing half of the lunar month, or the days around Losar (the Tibetan New Year). Avoid hanging them in the afternoon or evening, when, it is said, the blessing is weaker.
  3. Set your motivation. This is the heart of the practice. Before hanging, sit quietly and resolve that the flags are for the benefit of all living beings, not only for yourself. A simple wish in your own words is enough, such as "May all beings touched by this wind be happy and free from suffering."
  4. Purify the place (optional). Many Tibetans burn juniper (sang) as an offering of smoke before hanging flags. Burn a little juniper or incense safely in a heat-proof holder.
  5. Hang them high. Tie the string between two high points such as a tree, a pole or the roof edge, where the wind blows freely. Keep the colour order. Do not let the flags touch the ground or hang where people will step over them, and avoid lavatories and rubbish areas.
  6. Recite as you hang. It is customary to recite Om mani padme hum, the mantra of Avalokiteśvara, while tying the flags.
  7. Let them fade. As the sun and wind wear the flags, the prayers are understood to be dispersed into the world. That fading is part of the practice, not a failure.
  8. Renew and dispose with respect. When the flags are worn, usually after a year, hang new flags beside or above the old ones. Old flags should never be thrown in the bin or trodden on. Leave them until they disintegrate, or burn them respectfully so the smoke carries the prayers upward.

Origins and history§

Banners and streamers belonged to Buddhist ritual in India and Central Asia, where sūtras praise the merit of raising banners at stupas and temples. In Tibet this joined an older Himalayan concern with the forces of the landscape and with personal fortune. The lungta is both an image on the flag and a quality in a person: one's "wind horse" is one's luck, energy and success, which can be raised by ritual. Older writers often traced the flags to the Bon religion; modern scholars treat that claim cautiously, since the sources are late and the boundary between early Bon and folk practice is unclear. What is certain is that woodblock printing allowed mantras to be reproduced on cloth in great numbers, and that by the later medieval period flags were a familiar feature of Tibetan sacred geography.

Lungta or windhorse. This is printed at the centre of many Buddhist prayer flags surrounded by mantra or dhāraṇī usually with a dragon garuda, tiger, and snow lion printed in the four corners.. The wind horse…
Lungta or windhorse. This is printed at the centre of many Buddhist prayer flags surrounded by mantra or dhāraṇī usually with a dragon garuda, tiger, and snow lion printed in the four corners.. The wind horse…Christopher J. Fynn · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The central image shows the wind horse carrying the flaming wish-fulfilling jewel. At the four corners stand the garuda, the dragon, the tiger and the snow lion, guardians associated with the directions and with qualities of strength. Around them are printed mantras and dhāraṇī such as Om mani padme hum and prayers for long life and success. The anthropologist Geoffrey Samuel describes such practices as part of the "pragmatic" side of Tibetan religion, concerned with prosperity and protection in this life, which coexists with the "bodhi" orientation towards enlightenment. In the flags the two meet: a personal wish for good fortune is fulfilled by wishing good fortune to all.

Variations§

Besides horizontal lungta strings there are tall vertical flags (darchog), fixed to poles at houses and monasteries and renewed at Losar. On high passes, travellers add flags to cairns and call out lha gyalo, "the gods are victorious". In Bhutan, tall white flags are raised in memory of the dead.

Safety and good sense§

Use a stable ladder and a helper when hanging flags high, and keep well clear of power lines. Burn juniper or incense only in a heat-proof holder, never unattended and never in dry, windy conditions where sparks could start a fire. If you burn old flags, use a metal container outdoors and check local fire rules.

Sources and further reading§