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National flag of Independent Sikkim still flies but inside a cafeteria

I have always loved old stuff and to be part of it is what I love the most. I have been to Baba Harbhajan Singh's mandir a little over a dozen kilometres from the famed Changu Lake a few times but each time I have tried to visit a cafe nearby before I enter the mandir.  Never take a sip of coffee at a height of 13,000 feet above sea level.   The Cafe 13,000 as its name are painted on its wall welcomes every visitor. Here in this cafeteria lies a piece of history. As far as I know, this is the only place where I have seen and touched the royal flag of independent Sikkim. Each touch has given me pride and a bond that belongs to me. Three flags are kept side by side, of the two an Indian tricolour is kept slightly a step taller than the other two, obviously, that always hurts me. On the right side is the flag of the army and to its left is the royal flag of the Namgyal Dynasty which ruled Sikkim for more than three centuries.  "The national flag of Sikkim cons...

Professor Lupant with Sikkim's former flag

Professor Lupant and Jigme with Sikkim's former flag   Professor Michel Lupant's Vexillological Research - Sept/Oct 2007 pic: questhimalaya.com

Sikkim royal flag flying....

Sikkim Royal Flag photo courtesy Sophie Rault

Royal flags of Kingdom of Sikkim (1877-1975)

Sikkim (India)   Image by Mario Fabretto Description of the flag Historical flags 1877 - c. 1914 c. 1914 - 1962 1962 - 1967 Description of the flag From Barraclough (1971):  "Sikkim, formerly a protectorate of India, was incorporated as the twenty-second state of the union in May 1975, and the office of the hereditary ruler, the Chogyal , was abolished. Sikkim has, or had, a flag of white with a red border all round, and a yellow Chakra (fimbriated in red) in the centre."  "...the Chakra [is] a Buddhist symbol representing the Law of Dharma , or eternal change." The Chakra on the flag of Sikkim is different then the one on India's flag. It has eight spokes rather than the many spokes on India's, and has an ornate "nub" on the wheel at the head of each spoke. Don Hagemann, 28 November 1995 [editor's note: The source of this quote is not Barraclough (1971), but probably a later edition of the ...