When the saffron flag was hoisted atop the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, it carried deep symbolic meaning tied to ancient traditions. On Tuesday, 25 November, the flag — known as the “Dharma Dhwaj” — was raised by Prime Minister Modi during a grand ceremony marking the completion of the temple.

This flag is a right-angled triangle, saffron in colour, standing 10 feet tall and 20 feet long. It bears two sacred images: a glowing sun with the word ‘Om’ inscribed on it, and a Kovidara tree beside it. The flag is described as representing the ancient flag of the Ayodhya kingdom.

The credit for rediscovering this flag’s design goes to Indologist Lalit Mishra. According to him, he saw this ancient version of Ayodhya’s flag in a painting from the Mewar pictorial Ramayana. He explained the meanings behind the symbols: the Sun stands for Lord Rama’s Suryavansha lineage; the Kovidara tree stands for royal power, righteousness, and the long heritage of Ayodhya’s past; and the sacred “Om” symbol signals the eternal cosmic order and spiritual continuity.

Mishra elaborated further:
“I found the reference to this flag in Valmiki Ramayana’s Ayodhya Kand… The tree on the flag is a hybrid of the Mandar and Parijat trees, created by Rishi Kashyap, which could have been one of the earliest experiments in plant hybridisation. I faced a difficult time in establishing the identity of the Kovidar and Kachnar tree as both had similar biological names. I am glad the flag is back to the place it originated from after such a long time,” he said.

He admitted that initially he had trouble distinguishing the tree. At first, he mistook the Kovidara tree for the Kachnar tree because their biological names are similar. After careful study, he confirmed that the Kovidara tree is an ancient hybrid — born of the Mandar and Parijat trees by Rishi Kashyap’s creation. This represents an early example of plant hybridization from ancient times.

Mishra also spoke about how this tradition was lost over centuries:
“In a long tradition of many thousands of years, we lost it. The thing is, we lost the knowledge of the flag after the Mahabharata war. What happened in the Mahabharata war, Ayodhya’s king Brihadbal participated. And from the Mahabharata, we know that he was killed. So after he was killed, Ayodhya was ruined and forsaken. And I think by that time, because it was ruined, the tradition had lost the memory of the flag and the tree also,” he added.

According to him, over time the memory of both the flag and the tree vanished. Later, some records came up during the period of the poet Kalidasa. Kalidasa described a beautiful flower and tree, but not the same one as on Ayodhya’s flag. Because the tradition had broken, the memory did not survive. As a result, in nearly 299 versions of the Ramayana that followed, neither the tree nor the flag was mentioned. He found that deeply saddening — until now. He said:
“So what happens is that a tracing point comes in the period of Kalidasa. So Kalidasa describes the beauty of the flower and the tree. But he does not remember the same tree that is featured on Ayodhya’s flag. Because the tradition was broken, the memory of the plant and the flag did not survive. So that’s why, in all the subsequent, some 299 Ramayanas, there is no mention of this tree or the flag. So now I am very happy that it has been discovered and it has found its place,” he added.

Now, with the flag restored atop the temple, the ancient heritage seems to have come full circle — reconnecting modern Ayodhya with its storied past.