Like the Mani stone mounds, the five-colored prayer-flags also can be seen everywhere, which are hung on peaks, mountain passes, riversides, by roads and monasteries, etc. They are so named because on each flag, there is scripture. Waving in the wind, they are also called wind flags. To the believers, each waving of the flag means reciting the scripture once, sending wishes of sentient beings to the deities. In this way, the prayer-flags serve as a connection between human beings and the deities. They also believe that the deities are just behind the flags, listening to their prayers.

    The width of the flags is similar, about 60 centimeters; while the length and patterns are varied. The longest one is as long as three to five meters, on which there is written scripture, birds and beasts. It is either red or white colored; and is usually hung on the masks standing on squares or front of monasteries. The shortest one is only about 60 centimeters long, each being one of the five-colors, i.e. blue, white, red, green and yellow, They have similar patterns as the above-mentioned long one, and are usually hung on a long strings by some sparsely populated mountain passes. There is one, on which there is no scripture but some stars and flame patterns, called Non-scripture Star and Flame Flag. On its upper part, there are five strips of the five different aforementioned colors; and on its lower part, there is a so-called main flag with a single color. They are usually hung on the roofs of households.

    The five colors of the flags stand for different meanings. Blue is for sky, white for cloud, red for flame, green for water and yellow for earth. So the blue flag must be hung above, while the yellow hung one below to strictly follow the universal order. In addition, the color of the main flag of the Non-scripture star and Flame Flags is dependent on the birth year of the prestigious elder of the family. White is for the iron year, yellow for the earth year, green for the wood year, red for the fire year and blue for the water year. The color of hem around the main flag is also strictly stipulated according to principle of synergism (inter – conflicting and inter – promoting relation in five elements). The allowed color pairs of the main flag and its hem are: blue and white, green and blue, white and yellow, red and green and yellow and red.

    During the New Year Festival each year, every household will replace the old flag with a new one almost at the same specific time, renewing the looks of the entire town. Moreover, the people will raise the prayer-flags on significant days, such as religious festivals, consecration days, laity festivals, when moving to new premises, wedding ceremonies and even going on journeys for pilgrimage or on business. In some places, the date of replacing is fixed. For instance, on the Sacred Mountain, the Kangdese, the changing flag ceremony has been held on the 15^th day of the fourth Tibetan month since the ancient times. The site is on the Serxongtan of the Kangdese piedmont, on which a giant mast as high as 24 meters is standing. On that day, people change a lot of flags. Visitors are gathered there to see the grand occasion. More than that, they will join to scramble for the old flags. It is said that the one-year-old flags can help to ward off disasters. The number of visitors is especially large in the Horse year of the Tibetan calendar, say about tens of thousands, because the people believe that to pilgrimage and circumambulate the sacred mountain in the horse year can gain much more merit and virtue, say one circumambulation this year equals to thirteen in the other years.