The national flag of Tibet (བོད་ཀྱི་རྒྱལ་དར།), also unofficially known as the Snow Lion Flag, depicts a white snow-covered mountain, a yellow sun with red and blue rays emanating from it, two Tibetan snow lions, a multi-coloured jewel representing Buddhist values, a taijitu and a yellow border around three of its four sides.

"[10] In addition to being carried by Tibet's army, the flag was displayed on public buildings of the Ganden Phodrang government.

Historical footage shows the flag flying at the foot of the Potala Palace, the site of the Dalai Lama's government in Tibet.

"[12] Outside of Tibet, the flag was featured in publications by foreign governments, reference books, academic journals, and in culturally significant works up until 1959.

[13] One of its first official international appearances was in a British Crown publication in 1923, "Drawings of the Flags in Use at the Present Time by Various Nations".

The caption reads, "Tibet.- With its towering mountain of snow, before which stand two lions fighting for a flaming gem, the flag of Tibet is one of the most distinctive of the East.

The representative of the British government of India in Lhasa, Hugh Richardson, personally shared the invitation from the Indian Council of World Affairs with the Tibetan Foreign Office and advised that the conference was a good opportunity to show Asia and the world that Tibet was de facto an independent country.

[21] American historian A. Tom Grunfeld asserts that the conference was not government-sponsored, and so Tibet's and the Tibetan flag's presence had "no diplomatic significance", adding that the flag was removed after representatives from the Republic of China protested to conference organisers who then issued a statement that Jawaharlal Nehru had invited the Tibetan delegates "in a personal capacity".

[33] However, Wired also noted that a Tibetan flag emoji may open a Pandora's box of similar requests from other unrecognised states and independence movements.