All over Bhutan – from the cities, by the roads and in villages, one can see colourful pieces of fabric, imprinted with Buddhist images and texts, blowing in the wind. These are prayer flags, unique to the Himalayan branch of Buddhism. The idea behind them is that when the wind blows, it picks up and carries the imprinted prayers to the skies, “for the benefit of all sentient beings."

There are two kinds of prayer flags: the smaller ones, horizontally strung on ropes, which are usually tied on a diagonal line between two objects in high places such as the tops of temples, monasteries, stupas or mountain passes. The bigger ones are tied to tall poles and stuck in the ground or on rooftops.

Traditionally, prayer flags come in sets of five, each in a different colour. The colours represent the elements and are arranged from left to right in a specific order: blue, symbolising the sky, white, symbolising air, red, symbolising fire, green, symbolising water and yellow, symbolising the earth.

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