The national symbols of

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

include the national flag,

national emblem A national emblem is an emblem or seal that is reserved for use by a nation state or multi-national state as a symbol of that nation. Many nations have a seal or emblem in addition to a national flag A national flag is a flag that represents ...

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...

, and the mythical ''

druk The Druk ( bo, འབྲུག, dz, ་) is the "Thunder Dragon" of Tibetan and Bhutanese mythology and a Bhutanese national symbol. A druk appears on the flag of Bhutan, holding jewels to represent wealth. In Dzongkha, Bhutan is called ' ...

'' thunder featured in all three. Other distinctive symbols of Bhutan and its dominant

Ngalop The Ngalop ( dz, སྔལོངཔ་ ; "earliest risen people" or "first converted people" according to folk etymology) are people of Tibetan origin who migrated to Bhutan as early as the ninth century. Orientalists adopted the term "Bhote" or ...

culture include Dzongkha, the national language; the

Bhutanese monarchy Bhutanese may refer to: * Something of, or related to Bhutan * Dzongkha, the official national language of Bhutan (sometimes called "Bhutanese") * A person from Bhutan, or of Bhutanese descent, see Demographics of Bhutan * Bhutanese culture * Bhuta ...

; and the

driglam namzha The Driglam Namzha () is the official code of etiquette and dress code of Bhutan. It governs how citizens should dress in public as well as how they should behave in formal settings. It also regulates a number of cultural assets such as art and arc ...

, a seventeenth-century code on dress, etiquette, and

dzong architecture Dzong architecture is used for dzongs, a distinctive type of fortified monastery ( dz, རྫོང, , ) architecture found mainly in Bhutan and Tibet. The architecture is massive in style with towering exterior walls surrounding a complex of cou ...

. Natural symbols of Bhutan are its national flower, the

Himalayan blue poppy ''Meconopsis grandis'', the Himalayan blue poppy, is a species of flowering plant in the poppy family Papaveraceae, native to China (Yunnan), Bhutan, North East India and Nepal. Growing to tall and broad, this hardy herbaceous perennial has a bas ...

; its national tree, the Himalayan cypress; its national bird, the raven; and its national animal, the

takin The takin (''Budorcas taxicolor''; ), also called cattle chamois or gnu goat, is a large species of ungulate of the subfamily Caprinae found in the eastern Himalayas. It includes four subspecies: the Mishmi takin (''B. t. taxicolor''), the g ...

. These national symbols are established variously by law and tradition. While most laws codifying the national symbols of Bhutan such as the flag, emblem, and national anthem are modern, the tradition behind many of them is much older than the kingdom itself, deriving from Buddhist mythology. The ''

'' thunder dragon is heavily associated with the Bhutanese state religion and has symbolized Bhutan ("Druk-yul") in particular since the late twelfth century. Traditional natural symbols, such as the raven and Himalayan cypress, possess not only admired characteristics, but religious meanings as well.

Flag of Bhutan

The

flag of Bhutan The national flag of Bhutan ( dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་རྒྱལ་དར) is one of the national symbols of Bhutan. The flag features a Chinese dragon ('' druk'' ylie 'brugin Dzongkha, the Bhutanese language) from Bhutanese my ...

is based upon the tradition of the

Drukpa Lineage The Drukpa Kagyu (), or simply Drukpa, sometimes called either Dugpa or " Red Hat sect" in older sources,

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

and features

Druk The Druk ( bo, འབྲུག, dz, ་) is the "Thunder Dragon" of Tibetan and Bhutanese mythology and a Bhutanese national symbol. A druk appears on the flag of Bhutan, holding jewels to represent wealth. In Dzongkha, Bhutan is called ' ...

, the Thunder Dragon of

Bhutanese mythology Cradled in the folds of the Himalayas, Bhutan has relied on its geographical isolation to protect itself from outside cultural influences. A sparsely populated country bordered by India to the south, and China to the north, Bhutan has long mainta ...

. The basic design of the flag by Mayum Choying Wangmo Dorji dates to 1947. A version was displayed in 1949 at the signing of the Indo-Bhutan Treaty. A second version was introduced in 1956 for the visit of Druk Gyalpo

Jigme Dorji Wangchuk Jigme Dorji Wangchuck ( dz, འབྲུག་རྒྱལ་པོ་ འཇིགས་མེད་རྡོ་རྗེ་དབང་ཕྱུག་མཆོག་, ; 2 May 1928 – 21 July 1972) was the 3rd Druk Gyalpo of Bhutan. He began ...

to eastern Bhutan; it was based upon photos of its 1949 predecessor and featured a white Druk in place of the green original. Flag of Bhutan

The Bhutanese subsequently redesigned their flag to match the measurements of the flag of India, which they believed fluttered better than their own. Other modifications such as changing the red background color to orange led to the current national flag, in use since 1969. The National Assembly of Bhutan codified a code of conduct in 1972 to formalize the flag's design establish protocol regarding acceptable flag sizes and conditions for flying the flag. The First Schedule of the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

of 2008 legally describes the flag: The official description of the symbolism behind the flag remains largely the same as it was when first codified under the Act of 1972.

Emblem of Bhutan

The emblem of Bhutan is used in official government publications such as legislation and websites. The emblem was first legally codified as a national symbol in the Constitution in 2008. As such, it is a relatively new addition to the list of national symbols of Bhutan. Nonetheless, like the national flag, the national emblem is rich in Buddhist iconography whose symbolism has had great meaning to the people of Bhutan for centuries. Prior to its codification, the emblem appeared in

Bhutanese legislation Bhutanese legislation is created by the bicameral Parliament of Bhutan. Either the upper house National Council, the lower house National Assembly, or the Attorney General may author bills to be passed as acts, with the exception of money and fin ...

and websites of the Bhutanese government pre-dating the enactment of the Constitution. The Constitution provides this description of the circular emblem of Bhutan: Some features of the emblem may vary; for example, the background may appear as crimson, blue, or black. The emblem of Bhutan is also used as the logo of some government agencies, for example, the Bhutan Trust Fund.

National anthem of Bhutan

The ''Druk Tsendhen'' ("The Thunder Dragon Kingdom") is the

of Bhutan. Adopted in 1953, the music was composed by Aku Tongmi and the words were penned by Dasho Gyaldun Thinley. Tongmi was educated in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and had recently been appointed leader of the military brass band when the need for an anthem rose at the occasion of a state visit from Prime Minister

Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

of India. The original score was inspired by the Bhutanese folk tune "The Unchanging Lotus Throne" (''Thri nyampa med pa pemai thri''). The melody has twice undergone changes by Mr. Tongmi's successors as band leaders. The original lyrics had twelve lines, but the anthem was later shortened to the present six-line version in 1964 by a secretary to the '' Druk Gyalpo'' (Bhutanese Head of State). The lyrics appear in the Second Schedule of the democratically enacted Constitution of 2008. As the anthem is inspired by a folk tune, there is a choreography to it as well, originally directed by Mr. Tongmi.

Bhutanese society

Other notable symbols of Bhutanese culture and national identity are the distinctive Bhutanese dress, the Bhutanese monarchy, and Dzongkha, the national language. The

, a seventeenth-century code on dress, etiquette, and architecture, mandates wearing

clothing, the ''

gho The gho or g'ô ( dz, བགོ, ) is the traditional and national dress for men in Bhutan. Introduced in the 17th century by Ngawang Namgyal, 1st Zhabdrung Rinpoche, to give the Ngalop people a more distinctive identity, it is a knee-length r ...

'' and ''

kira Kira may refer to: People * Kira clan, a Japanese clan, descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) * Kira (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Kira Chikazane (1563–1588), Japanese retainer * Kira (German singer) (Janine ...

'', in public. The code, while distinctive and symbolic of Bhutanese identity, is resented by many non-Ngalop

Lhotshampa The Lhotshampa or Lhotsampa ( ne, ल्होत्साम्पा; ) people are a heterogeneous Bhutanese people of Nepalese descent. "Lhotshampa", which means "southern borderlanders" in Dzongkha, began to be used by the Bhutanese state i ...

. The

itself, and especially the reigning Druk Gyalpo, are prominent symbols of Bhutan. The kingdom, which began in 1907 as an

absolute monarchy Absolute monarchy (or Absolutism (European history), Absolutism as a doctrine) is a form of monarchy in which the monarch rules in their own right or power. In an absolute monarchy, the king or queen is by no means limited and has absolute pow ...

, has endeavored on a path of modernization and democratization largely at the behest of its latest three kings. The democratic Constitution of 2008 explicitly enshrines the institution of the monarchy and the line of

Ugyen Wangchuck ''Gongsar'' Ugyen Wangchuck ( dz, ཨོ་རྒྱན་དབང་ཕྱུག, ; 11 June 1862 – 26 August 1926) was the first Druk Gyalpo (King) of Bhutan from 1907 to 1926. In his lifetime, he made efforts to unite the fledgling country a ...

. The Constitution and modern laws also preserve the monarch's active role in reviewing and assenting to laws, hearing judicial appeals, and guiding domestic and foreign policy. One prominent symbol of the

is the

Raven Crown The Raven Crown (Dzongkha: དབུ་ཞྭ་བྱ་རོག་ཅན་; Wylie: ''dbu-zhva bya-rog-can'') is worn by the Kings of Bhutan. It is a hat surmounted by the head of a raven. History The hereditary monarchy of the Wangchuck dy ...

, worn by reigning monarchs since the reign of

(1907–1926). The first

King of Bhutan The Druk Gyalpo (; 'Dragon King') is the head of state of the Kingdom of Bhutan. In the Dzongkha language, Bhutan is known as ''Drukyul'' which translates as "The Land of the Thunder Dragon". Thus, while kings of Bhutan are known as ''Druk ...

adopted as the unique symbol of his authority a crown surmounted by the head of a raven. The bird represents a form of

Mahakala Mahākāla is a deity common to Hinduism and Tantric Buddhism. In Buddhism, Mahākāla is regarded as the sacred '' Dharmapāla'' ("Protector of the Dharma"), while in Hinduism, Mahākāla is a fierce manifestation of the Hindu god Shiva and th ...

, Bhutan's guardian deity. The prototype of the founding monarch's Raven Crown had first been devised as a battle helmet for his father,

Jigme Namgyel ''Desi'' Jigme Namgyal of Bhutan (Dzongkha: འཇིགས་མེད་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་; , 1825–1881) is a forefather of the Wangchuck Dynasty. He served as 48th Druk Desi ( Deb Raja, the secular executive) of Bhutan (1870–1 ...

(1825–81). Known as the Black Regent, he had worn it in bloody struggles against his many rivals within the country and against the British who tried, unsuccessfully, to subdue him. The national language, Dzongkha, is a symbol of the state of Bhutan and is its legally designated '' lingua franca'' among the many

languages of Bhutan There are two dozen languages of Bhutan, all members of the Tibeto-Burman language family except for Nepali, which is an Indo-Aryan language, and Bhutanese Sign Language. Dzongkha, the national language, is the only native language of Bhutan with ...

. Like the

and

, Dzongkha is also a salient feature of

culture in particular. The name of the language hearkens to the distinctive dzong fortresses, now used as government centers.

Flora and fauna

The national flower of Bhutan is the

('' Meconopsis gakyidiana''). In Bhutan, it grows to a height of 1 meter on the rocky mountain terrain, above the tree line at altitudes of 3500m to 4500m. Bhutanese tradition links this flower with the

yeti The Yeti ()"Yeti"
''

Sakteng Sakteng ( dz, སག་སྟེང་, sag steng, size=150%) is a town and the headquarters of an eponymous gewog in Trashigang District in far eastern Bhutan. The nearby Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary is named after it. In popular culture Sakteng ...

in eastern Bhutan. The Himalayan cypress (''Cupressus torolusa'') is the national tree of Bhutan. They are associated with religion, and may often be found near the religious structures and in the temperate zone between altitudes of 1800m and 3500m. To the Bhutanese, its ability to survive on rugged terrain represents bravery and simplicity. The national bird is the raven. As noted above, it the most prominent component of the royal crown. In Bhutan, the raven represents the deity Gonpo Jarodongchen, the raven-headed

, one of the country's chief guardian deities. The Bhutanese credit the raven with having guided the founder of Bhutan, Shabdrung

Ngawang Namgyal Ngawang Namgyal (later granted the honorific Zhabdrung Rinpoche, approximately "at whose feet one submits") (; alternate spellings include ''Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyel''; 1594–1651) and known colloquially as The Bearded Lama, was a Tibetan Budd ...

, to victory during the invasion from

Ü-Tsang Ü-Tsang is one of the three traditional provinces of Tibet, the others being Amdo in the north-east, and Kham in the east. Ngari (including former Guge kingdom) in the north-west was incorporated into Ü-Tsang. Geographically Ü-Tsang covered ...

(Tibet) in the seventeenth century. Takin Standing (22221570730)

The national animal is the

(''Burdorcas taxicolor''). This

bovid The Bovidae comprise the biological family of cloven-hoofed, ruminant mammals that includes cattle, bison, buffalo, antelopes, and caprines. A member of this family is called a bovid. With 143 extant species and 300 known extinct species, ...

is also associated with religious history and mythology. Today it is a rare animal, and its conservation status is " vulnerable." Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of vulnerable. It has a thick neck and short muscular legs. It lives on bamboo, traveling in groups at elevations around 4000m on the northwestern and far northeastern parts of Bhutan.

Druk tradition

The ''

'' ( Dzongkha: འབྲུག་; Wylie:'' 'brug''), or "thunder dragon" of Bhutanese mythology, has been the national symbol of Bhutan since long before the establishment of government in 1907. Since the seventeenth century, Bhutan's self-designation has been ''Drukyul'' ("Land of the Thunder Dragon"), or ''Dru-gäkhap'' ("Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon"). The Druk is heavily associated with the dominant Drukpa sect of

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...

, the state religion under Bhutan's

dual system of government The Dual System of Government is the traditional diarchal political system of Tibetan peoples whereby the Desi (temporal ruler) coexists with the spiritual authority of the realm, usually unified under a third single ruler. The actual distribut ...

. This sect was founded in western

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

by Drogon Tsangpa Gyare Yeshe Dorje (1161–1211), who with his disciples witnessed nine dragons roaring out of the earth and into the skies, as flowers rained down everywhere. From this incident they named their sect ''Drukpa''. The Druk thus features prominently in other national symbols by tradition, and — since the establishment of the Wangchuck dynasty — by law.

Sport

Archery has been the official national sport of Bhutan since the kingdom's accession to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

in 1971. Other particularly Bhutanese sports of note include '' digor'', resembling shot put, and '' khuru'', a kind of outdoor dart game. These sports have their own tournaments and place in celebrations ranging from local

tsechu A tshechu ( dz, ཚེས་བཅུ།, literally "day ten") is any of the annual religious Bhutanese festivals held in each district or dzongkhag of Bhutan on the tenth day of a month of the lunar Tibetan calendar. The month depends on the p ...

festivals to Bhutanese public holidays. These traditional sports, especially archery, are imbued with communal, religious, material, and commercial significance. Increasingly, traditional sports have adopted modern innovations, from compound bows to corporate sponsorship.

Law

The most recent laws regarding the national symbols of Bhutan are enumerated in the national constitution of 2008. The Constitution represents the only democratically enacted legislation regarding Bhutan's national symbols. Foremost, the Constitution confirmed the status of Dzongkha as the national language and set December 17 – the day of the founding of the monarchy – as the National Day. It also confirms the

Drukpa Kagyu The Drukpa Kagyu (), or simply Drukpa, sometimes called either Dugpa or "Red Hat sect" in older sources,

school of Mahayana Buddhism as the state religion. The First Schedule of the Constitution sets forth the latest legal description of the national flag and emblem, while its Second Schedule reproduces the lyrics of the Bhutanese national anthem. Prior to 2008, other laws regarding the Bhutanese flag and flag etiquette existed; they continue in effect where they are not inconsistent with later law. One such law is the National Flag Rules of Bhutan, enacted in 1972. The Act described the symbolism behind the flag in terms nearly identical to those used in the Constitution decades later. In addition, the Act provides several rules on flag etiquette, especially hoisting and displaying the flag.

Notes

{{Bhutan topics