Why would a Swedish traveller want to buy a Buddhist flag in Sri Lanka? Because love and peace, of course. Frida Quirk gives us the backstory behind her memento, which flies over her cactus garden every day.
“I went to Sri Lanka with some friends from Sweden in 2012 to meet up with my Aussie boyfriend. He and I bought this flag from a little store after climbing Adams Peak, a mountain also known as the “sacred footprint.”
We’re both designers, so we love symbols and patterns. We decided on a Buddhist flag after seeing them everywhere. It’s a symbol of faith and peace, used throughout the world to represent the Buddhist faith. We wanted to fly it back in Sweden, to piss off some neighbours, because the right-wing movement in Scandinavia was growing out of control.
After two months in Sri Lanka, we returned to Sweden, but decided to move to Australia to keep living the beach-lifestyle dream. So much happened during that trip that changed everything – we ended up getting married later – and so it’s a great memento of why we’re in Australia and who we are.” – Frida Quirk.
