National Symbols of Nepal: Flag, Flower, Bird, Animal, Game & More

Nepal's national symbols are a mix of constitutional emblems and later government declarations. Four biological symbols and the flag, coat of arms and anthem are fixed directly by the Constitution of Nepal 2015 (Nepal ko Sambidhan 2072 BS), promulgated on 20 September 2015 (Bhadra 3, 2072 BS). Others, such as the national game and the national fruit, were added afterwards by decisions of the Council of Ministers (Cabinet).

The constitutional symbols carry the strongest legal standing because they can only be changed by amending the constitution. Article 8 fixes the national flag, and Article 9 fixes the national anthem, the coat of arms, the national flower, the national colour, the national animal and the national bird. Schedules 1, 2 and 3 give the technical drawing of the flag, the words and music of the anthem, and the design of the coat of arms respectively.

The symbols added by Cabinet are administrative designations rather than constitutional ones. This distinction matters for Loksewa (Public Service Commission) and general-knowledge questions: the flower, colour, animal and bird come from the constitution, while volleyball and the mandarin orange come from later Cabinet decisions. Widely repeated 'symbols' such as dal bhat as national food or the Daura-Suruwal as national dress are cultural conventions, not items named in any single official instrument.

The flag of Nepal is the only non-rectangular national flag in the world. It is a double-pennant (a stacked pair of triangular pennons) with a crimson field and a deep-blue border, evolved from the war banners of the Shah and Gorkha kings and standardised after Prithvi Narayan Shah unified Nepal in the 18th century. Its present form was adopted on 16 December 1962 under that year's constitution and re-affirmed by every later constitution, including the 2015 charter; engineer Shankar Nath Rimal standardised the design for King Mahendra.

The upper pennant carries a white crescent moon showing eight of its sixteen rays, and the lower pennant carries a white twelve-rayed sun. The crimson base represents bravery and echoes the rhododendron, the national flower, while the blue border represents peace. The sun and moon are traditionally read as a wish that Nepal endure as long as those bodies remain in the sky.

Uniquely, the constitution embeds an exact geometric construction of the flag. Schedule 1 of the Constitution of Nepal 2015 sets out, step by step, how to draw the pennants, the crescent and the sun using compass-and-straightedge instructions, so the proportions are legally defined rather than approximate.

The coat of arms (national emblem) of Nepal is fixed by Article 9 and detailed in Schedule 3. The current design was first adopted in 2008 after the country became a republic and was revised on 13 June 2020 to show Nepal's updated political map, which includes the Limpiyadhura, Kalapani and Lipulekh areas. The emblem combines the national flag, Mount Everest and the green Himalayan hills, the yellow of the fertile Terai plains, a pair of male and female hands clasped to signal gender equality, and a garland of rhododendrons. A red scroll carries the Sanskrit motto meaning 'Mother and Motherland are greater than heaven.'

Nepal's national anthem is 'Sayaun Thunga Phulka' (loosely, 'Woven from Hundreds of Flowers'). It was formally adopted on 3 August 2007, replacing the older monarchy-era anthem 'Shreeman Gambhir'. The lyrics were written by poet Pradip Kumar Rai, known by his pen name Byakul Maila, and the music was composed by Amber Gurung.

The lyrics were chosen through a national contest that drew 1,272 submissions; the winning text was selected on 30 November 2006 and approved in April 2007 before final adoption in August 2007. The anthem is notable for celebrating Nepal's ethnic, linguistic and geographic diversity rather than a ruler, reflecting the shift toward a federal, inclusive republic.

Article 9 of the Constitution of Nepal 2015 names four biological and colour symbols in a single clause, which is why they are grouped together in exams and GK lists. The national flower is the rhododendron, called lali gurans in Nepali, specified in the constitution as Rhododendron arboreum (family Ericaceae). It blooms across the mid-hills in spring and its deep red mirrors the flag and emblem. Nepal is exceptionally rich in the genus, home to more than 30 rhododendron species from tall trees to low alpine shrubs; Rhododendron arboreum itself grows up to roughly 20 metres tall between about 1,400 and 3,600 metres elevation, with its main bloom running mid-March to late April (Falgun-Chaitra), when mid-hill forests such as those around Annapurna and Langtang turn red and pink.

The national colour is crimson (gulaf / rato), the same shade as the flag's field and the rhododendron; it is read as a sign of strength, bravery and unity. The national animal is the cow (gai, scientific name Bos indicus), revered in Hindu tradition and constitutionally protected; its designation as national animal is the reason cow slaughter is restricted by law in Nepal, and the animal features prominently in festivals such as Gai Jatra. A common misconception worth correcting: the yeti, though heavily used in Nepali tourism branding, holds no official national-symbol status, only the cow does.

The national bird is the Himalayan monal, known in Nepali as danphe (or danfe) and given in the constitution by its genus name, Lophophorus (the species is Lophophorus impejanus, of the pheasant family Phasianidae, named after Lady Mary Impey, wife of an 18th-century British chief justice of Bengal). The male is famous for its iridescent, multi-coloured plumage, popularly described in Nepal as having nau rangi (nine colours), and is found in high Himalayan forests, alpine meadows and rocky slopes roughly between 2,100 and 4,500 metres. It is assessed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List globally but is a protected species within Nepal, where hunting it is prohibited. Because all four are named in the same constitutional article, they share the same official date: 20 September 2015.

Nepal had no official national game for most of its history; the traditional stick game dandi biyo (dandi-biyo) was often called the national game informally. That changed when the Council of Ministers, acting on a recommendation from the Ministry of Youth and Sports, declared volleyball the national game on 22 May 2017.

Volleyball was chosen over football and cricket, which were also considered, because it is inexpensive to organise, can be played on rough or sloping ground, and is popular even in remote hill and mountain districts. This accessibility across Nepal's difficult terrain was the government's main stated rationale.

Because the designation came by Cabinet decision rather than by statute or constitution, it is an administrative choice that a later government could revisit. For GK and Loksewa purposes, however, the standard correct answer to 'national game of Nepal' is volleyball, effective 22 May 2017.

On 12 April 2024, the Council of Ministers declared the mandarin orange, known in Nepali as suntala (Citrus reticulata), the national fruit of Nepal on the proposal of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development; the decision was announced by the government spokesperson at the time, Communications Minister Rekha Sharma. Nepal had no official national fruit before this decision, so the suntala is the first and only fruit to hold the title.

The government's stated aim was to promote citrus branding and boost production in Nepal's established orange-growing belts in the mid-hills, where the crop supports a large number of farming households and is a significant source of rural income. Mandarin cultivation is concentrated roughly between 800 and 1,500 metres in the hills, in districts including Syangja, Dhankuta, Kavrepalanchok, Ramechhap, Sindhuli, Gulmi, Tanahun and Lamjung.

As with volleyball, the national-fruit status rests on a Cabinet decision rather than a constitutional provision. Note that older reference works and some encyclopedias still list a different plant as Nepal's 'national fruit'; those predate the April 2024 decision and are now out of date.

Several items are widely treated as national symbols by custom and in tourism material, even though they are not fixed by a single constitutional article. The Daura-Suruwal (with the Dhaka topi cap) for men and the Gunyu-Cholo for women are commonly described as the national dress, reflecting long-standing tradition rather than a formal decree. The daura is a closed-neck, double-breasted shirt fastened with cloth ties (traditionally counted as eight strings), worn with the suruwal (trousers loose at the top and snug at the calf), usually completed with a waistcoat (istakot) and the patterned dhaka topi cap. For women, the gunyu is a wrap-around skirt worn with the cholo (fitted blouse) and often a patuka (waist sash); both outfits typically use the handwoven dhaka cloth that carries strong cultural meaning and remain standard wear at weddings, Dashain, Tihar and state occasions.

Dal bhat, the everyday meal of steamed rice with lentil soup and vegetables, is popularly called the national food or national cuisine of Nepal, again by convention. These cultural symbols are useful context but should be distinguished from the constitutional and Cabinet-designated symbols above when accuracy matters.

When answering exam-style questions, the safest approach is to cite the source: the flag, coat of arms, anthem, flower, colour, animal and bird trace to the Constitution of Nepal 2015; the national game (volleyball) to the 22 May 2017 Cabinet decision; and the national fruit (suntala) to the 12 April 2024 Cabinet decision. Dress and food are cultural conventions.