In Tibet, there is a universal phenomenon that numerous people scatter scraps of paper into the sky. Nowadays, we advocate environmental protection, while this behavior seems to go against this principle. In fact, those scraps of paper are called Longda, which means blessing. In the Tibetan language, Long means wind, da means horse. Putting together the two words, it means the horse flag in wind.
Longda can be made of paper or cloth with patterns and lection. The shapes of Longda are square or rectangular. Having a close look at the pattern, you will see a horse carrying the wishing jewel in the middle, sun and moon painting on the top, and four animals like dragon, eagle, tiger, and lion standing in the four corners. In the tradition of Tibetan history, different animals have different meanings. The dragon stands for prosperity, the eagle represents vitality, the tiger symbolizes the body, lion means brave, and the horse is spirit.


Paper Longda is always used to scatter into the sky, while cloth Longda is used to hang on the high land. By the way, the paper Longda is made of rice, which will melt when it meets water.