MINURSO Celebrates Sri Lanka’s Independence Day
On February 4th, MINURSO celebrated Sri Lanka’s Independence Day. The event was marked by the raising of Sri Lanka’s flag alongside the United Nations flag at the Mission’s headquarters in Laayoune.
The day commemorates Sri Lanka’s 1948 independence from British rule. Across the nation, it is celebrated with flag-raising ceremonies, traditional dances, parades, and performances.
Since gaining independence, Sri Lanka has been an active participant in multilateral organizations and has contributed both women and men to UN peacekeeping missions worldwide. Currently, two UN observers from Sri Lanka are serving with MINURSO.
The Sri Lankan flag, featuring a lion on a maroon background, symbolizes the Sinhalese ethnicity. The orange and green stripes represent the country’s two largest minority groups, the Tamils and the Muslims.