Meher Baba's Flag

Meher Baba's flag is a rainbow flag designed by Indian spiritual teacher Meher Baba on April 23, 1924 and is still flown near his samadhi in Meherabad, India during the week of Amartithi.

The flag has seven colors, representing the seven planes of involution, as well as seven kinds of sanskaras. Baba explained the symbolism, saying, "The colors in the flag signify man's rise from the grossest of impressions of lust and anger – symbolized by red – to the culmination in the highest state of spirituality and oneness with God – symbolized by sky blue." Meher Baba specified the positioning of only two colors, red and sky blue. The rest he left to personal taste, saying, "Red should be at the bottom of the flag and sky blue at the top. Arrangement of the other five colors is your decision." Baba also suggested the number of colors be seven to settle a dispute. The Hindus said the color of the flag should be red, but an early disciple named Ramjoo objected, saying that red reflected only Vedanta, and that green was better. Then the Hindus took objection, arguing that green was typically an Islamic color. The Parsis and Iranis disapproved of both colors, and to bring about accord, Baba proposed, "The flag should be of seven colors." However, this number is typical of most rainbow flag designs in use around the world.