Nishan Sahib
NISHAN
SAHIB is the name for the tall Sikh flag which marks all gurdwaras and
other religious premises of the Sikhs. Nishan is a Persian word with
multiple meanings, one of these being a flag or standard. Sahib, an
Arabic word with the applied meaning of lord or master, is here used as
an honorific.
Thus
Nishan Sahib in the Sikh tradition means the holy flag or exalted
ensign - a symbol representing the values of the Sikh faith. A
synonymous term is Jhanda Sahib (jhanda also meaning a flag or banner)
- but this is hardly ever used as this generally represents a national
identity. The Sikh pennant, made out of saffron-coloured, occasionally
out of blue-coloured, mainly in the case of Nihangs, cloth is
triangular in shape, normally each of the two equal sides being double
of the shorter one. The pennant is stitched to the mast sheath at the
top which is also of the same cloth.
On
the flag is commonly printed or embroidered the Sikh emblem, comprising
a khanda (two-edged sword) and chakra (an edged circular weapon, a disc
or quoit) and two kirpans which cross each other at the handles, with
the blades flanking the chakra. Sometimes the flag would have inscribed
on it Ik Onkar, term in the Mool Mantar signifying the Supreme Reality.
The flagstaff
has a steel khanda fixed on the top of it. No size is laid down for the
Nishan Sahib. The two flags standing adjacent to each other between the
Harimandar and the Akal Takhat at Amritsar are approximately 40 metres
high. Nishan Sahib is hoisted either in the compound of a gurdwara or
on the top of the building itself. Sometimes there are two flags in a
gurdwara, one in the premises and the other atop the edifice.
(Text taken from www.sikhiwiki.org )
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