Meaning of the Flag
The flag of Nepal is
the only national flag which is not rectangular, being based upon two
separate pennants which belonged to rival branches of the Rana dynasty,
which formerly ruled the country. The two pennants were first joined in
the last century, but it was not adopted as the official flag until
1962, when a constitutional form of government was established.
The
moon in the upper part represents the royal house. The sun in the lower
part symbolizes a branch of the Rana family, members of which acted as
prime ministers until 1961.
The charges are now said to represent
the hope that Nepal itself will last as long as the sun and the moon.
The style of these heavenly bodies was streamlined on December 16,
1962. The coat of arms still portrays these charges with facial
features. Crimson is deemed the national color.
Motto on their coat of arms: "The mother and the Mother Earth are more important than the heavenly kingdom."
Probably the answer is easier, if the question is asked the other way round:
Why are all national flags (except for the Nepali one) rectangular?
The pretty uniform shape of the national flag can be probably explained by the
fact that the national flag has its origin in a limited area (Europe and
Mediterranean), as ship flags. Certainly there had been different shapes in the
early times, but rectangular clothes of an approximate proportion of between
1.5:1 and 2:1 seemed the most practical ones, so the countries "standardized"
this shape. Afterwards the ship flags had been adapted for terrestrial use.
National flags of countries outside Europe only developed after European
national flags had standardized their shape, so they were imitating the
rectangular shape as well as some of the symbolic elements (vertical/horizontal
stripes, for instance). Older national symbols were transformed to the
"European" flag shape, for instance in Ethiopia, where the originally separated
red, yellow and green pennants were transformed into a horizontal triband of
rectangular shape. Nepal retained the original shape of its flag (basically two
pennants one above the other). The first origin of this flag is probably
elusive. However, other flags in the Indian area also showed non-rectangular,
often pennant-like shape, see
in-princ.html#alpha. The Nepali flag is
probably the only one surviving, something like a "living fossil". Usually
living fossils survive in rather secluded areas, such as Nepal (not having
coastal access, and being mountainous) or Switzerland (the same), still sticking
to the square shape of its flags.
Marcus E.V. Schmöger, 17 July 2004
The triangular shape reflects the historical shape of flags used by kingdoms
on the Indian subcontinent. Even today the flags flown on the masts of temples
in India are predominantly triangular.
Armano Grande, 19 March 2008