Those prayer flags you’ve hung at your desk and on your bike are not just some fancy accessory. Everything right from the colour to the words on the flags has a deeper meaning. Prayer flags essentially carry our prayers via the wind to get them answered. Here’s what you need to know about them before telling your friend visiting Leh-Ladakh to get some for you.

1. Each colour of the flag symbolises an element

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The red, blue, yellow, white and green represent elements like air, fire, water and earth. White symbolises air, red is fire. Green is water, yellow is earth, and blue is wind. They also represent directions – North, South, East, West and Center.

2. ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’ has a very deep meaning

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Om- The sacred syllable

Mani- Jewel

Padme – Lotus 

Hum – Spirit of enlightenment

This mantra does not have one particular meaning. It’s a combination of values like compassion, ethics, patience, diligence, renunciation and wisdom. It is said that if you recite the mantra during meditation, it can cure pride, jealousy, ignorance, greed and aggression. 

3. Prayer flags should never be still

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The reason why they are put high above the roof is so that they flutter in the wind. It is said that they emit positive spiritual vibrations and that the prayers are carried by the wind like silent prayers.

4. It’s a good omen to receive them as a gift

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Getting prayer flags as a gift from someone and not buying them is how you should acquire a prayer flag. Therefore, telling a friend who visits Leh-Ladakh to get you prayer flags is the right thing to do.

5. There are two kinds of flags – horizontal and vertical

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The horizontal ones are called Lung Dar and the vertical ones are Dar Cho. 

6. They should never be kept on the ground 

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It is considered disrespectful if the flags touch the ground. Therefore, they should always been hung at a height. Around the frame of the doorway is considered the right place to put the flags.

7. Colour fading from the flags is considered auspicious

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This means that the prayers were carried by the breeze - fading colours are a sign of it.

8. The auspicious time to put up a flag is during the Tibetan New Year

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And if you gather your family and well-wishers while doing so, the flags then are said to have a positive impact on your life.