The Sinhala Lion flag did not find acceptance amongst the Tamil people and Senator Nadesan moved a motion in the Senate on 19 January 1948 in the following terms.

Nonetheless, the Sinhala Lion Flag was used as the National Flag on Independence Day on 4 February 1948 and on the occasion of the opening of the first Parliament of independent Ceylon on February 19th, 1948. Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake unfurled the Lion Flag at the Octagon (Pattirippuwa) during the independence celebration held in Kandy on February 12th, 1948.

Senator S.Nadesan, an Independent Tamil Senator, dissented from the majority view. In his dissent dated 15 February 1950, he said:  "I regret that I am unable to agree with the majority decision of the National Flag Committee. In my view a national flag apart from giving an honoured place to all communities, must also be a symbol of national unity.”

In 1951, Senator Nadesan reiterates his opposition to the Lion flag as the national flag of the country:  "In my view, this design if adopted far from being a symbol of national unity will be symbol of our disunity." 

Source:  Senator Nadesan, Dissent, Parliamentary Select Committee Report, 1951