Karava Heraldry

Karava Heraldry

The Karavas claim - on the basis of certain European commentaries - to be the only Sri Lankan community traditionally entitled to use flags. British Government Agents studying Sri Lankan flags during the early 20th century have noted that not a single flag could be found even in the residences of Kandyan chiefs, the Radala nobility of the Kandyan Kingdom, as even they were not entitled to use flags. However it is known that the Kandyan Chieftains did not require household flags since each house bore the standard of the Korale (Province) under its jurisdiction and governance.

The modern Sri Lankan Karava community is also of interesting note for the energetic attempts it makes to reinterpret its status in the caste ranking system of the country. Traditionally set below the Govigama caste, the Karava of colonial times rapidly allied themselves to the Colonial powers ( Portuguese, Dutch and English) who ruled Sri Lanka. In the following centuries the Karava have created a semi-modern folklore of heraldry, etymology and traditions that attempt to establish them at the apex of the Sri Lankan caste structure. They have on occasion also succeeded, using this allegiance, in convincing the Colonial rulers of the veracity of such claims, leading to many erroneous Western writings on the Sri Lankan caste hierarchy during the 18th and 19th Centuries.

A large number of Karava flags have survived the ravages of time and many are illustrated in E. W. Perera’s monumental book titled ‘Sinhalese Banners and Standards’. However despite the extent of the Karava collection of flags, he has scattered the Karava flags throughout the book and not given them a special chapter as they deserve. As such their significance is missed by most readers of his book.

These observations, made in the 19th Century, do not take into account that the Kandyans were living under a Sinhala Royal dominion that reserved the right to bear flags to the Palace, while the Karava were settled in the coastal lowlands that had been claimed from the Sri Lankan Kings by the Portuguese, and then the Dutch and English. Karava families in these areas no more owed allegiance to the kings of Lanka, and it is supposed that they took up customs prohibited to them in the feudal era as a response to their lowly status of their caste.

Further, none of these flags predate the occupation of the lowland Karava settlements by the West, establishing that none of these flags were from the period of the Sinhala Kings. However, the symbols on Karava flags are the sun, moon, stars, elephant, fish, white shield, pearl umbrella, swords, lotuses, and ship all of which were royal symbols in Sri Lanka’s past.