How to Decorate Prayer Flags
Tibetan Buddhists raise prayer flags (Dar Cho) outside of homes and monasteries. Tibetan prayer flags are inscribed with Tibetan mantras, symbols and prayers. Decorating prayer flags is a prayerful activity, sending prayers aloft as the flags whip in the wind.
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Instructions
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Decorate health and longevity flags or victorious banners, among others. Timothy Clark of Radiant Heart Studio writes about the Tibetan prayer flag tradition. Decorate health and longevity flags with selected prayers from the Long Life Sutra. Place Amitayus, the Buddha of Limitless Life, in the center of the flag. Add the Victory Banner Sutra to victorious banner prayer flags. Decorations for Victorious Banners include auspicious mantras for prosperity and health. According to Clark, you must include the Wind Horse, the Eight Auspicious Symbols, the Seven Possessions of a Monarch and the Union of Opposites on Victorious Banners.
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Use Buddhist symbols to decorate prayer flags for specific purposes. Clark says Buddhists add symbols, which include, but are not limited to, the Wind Horse, the Eight Auspicious Symbols and deities and bodhisattvas (savior beings). Use the Wind Horse to draw good fortune to yourself and all living beings. Decorate a prayer flag with any of the Eight Auspicious symbols, such as a lotus, conch shell or parasol. According to Clark, place the lotus on a prayer flag to encourage spiritual development. Announce the teachings of the Enlightened Ones with the conch shell symbol. Add an image of a parasol as protection from evil.
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Incorporate the elements into prayer flag decorations. Use colors to represent the elements. Always arrange colors in the same order. Clark says vertical displays place, from top to bottom, blue (space/air), white (air/space), red (fire), green (water), and yellow (earth). When displayed horizontally, arrange colors in either direction, but they must appear in order.
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