The colorful prayer flags, known as "Longda" in Tibetan, are religious articles used in Tibetan Buddhist regions. They are made of cotton, linen, or silk and are printed with scriptures, mantras, and religious patterns. Common forms include long prayer flag poles with hanging flags and flags connected in a series of five colors. They are often hung at mountaintops, riversides, temples, and other places considered to be spiritually significant.
The prayer flags, made of blue, white, red, green, and yellow cloth strips arranged in a fixed order, symbolize the sky, auspicious clouds, flames, rivers, and the earth respectively. Tibetan Buddhism endows them with religious meanings of the Five Buddhas and the Five Wisdoms, and some scholars believe that they incorporate the ancient theory of the Five Elements. When the prayer flags are hung, each gust of wind is considered to be a recitation of the scriptures, serving the functions of conveying wishes, practicing and accumulating virtue, and becoming a medium for communication between humans and gods.
The prayer flags come in varying lengths and feature distinct patterns. The longest prayer flags measure 3-5 meters in length and 60 centimeters in width, featuring Buddhist scriptures and patterns of birds and beasts printed in red or white. They are typically hung sideways on prayer flag poles in front of squares and temples. Shorter prayer flags are usually square in shape, featuring the colors of blue, white, red, green, and yellow, with Buddhist scriptures and patterns of birds and beasts printed on them. They are often threaded onto a long rope and hung horizontally at sparsely populated mountain passes. The prayer flags hung on rooftops are typically star-shaped, wordless flags, consisting of five blue, white, red, green, and yellow flag strips on top and a single-colored, edged main flag below. These prayer flags that dance in the wind are also known as "wind flags".
The presence of wind streamers signifies the presence of deities, and also represents the place where people offer their prayers to the deities. Wind streamers embody people's good wishes.
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