Kingdom of Nepal, before 1928

The Kingdom of Nepal was established when Prithvi Narayan Shah unified all small principalities in 1769. In those days all flags on the Indian subcontinent were triangular. After 1850 the country was ruled by the hereditary Rana Prime Ministers, and a flag was adopted that combined two red crimson or pennants, belonging to rival branches of the Rana dynasty. On the upper pennon, a moon symbol represented the Royal house, and the sun on the lower pennant represented the Rana family. The faces are both shown with ears and a “tilak”, the sign of Vishnu, on the forehead. The flag’s border was green at first, as displayed in a book first published in 1928.