Amila Sampath / notes on design & data
Patterns9 min read

The Sri Lankan government header: patterns no design system has

Put 512 government website headers side by side and a Sri Lankan site is easy to spot: a gold emblem, a name in three scripts, a ministry line underneath. None of the nine government design systems I compared has a component for that. Here is what the patterns are, why they are there, and which ones a Sri Lankan design system should keep.

Amila SampathPublished · Independent experiment, not an official audit

In short

  • Of 512 Sri Lankan government website headers, 54% show the national emblem, 37% write the institution's name in Sinhala, Tamil and English, and 38% label languages in their own script (සිංහල, தமிழ்).
  • Ministries carry the emblem almost always (97%); universities almost never (8%).
  • None of nine government design systems (GOV.UK, USWDS, Canada, AgDS, NSW, TEDI, Singapore, NL Design System, KERN) has a component for a name in three languages, a parent-ministry line, text-size buttons, a header hotline or a leadership block.
  • The patterns answer real needs: state authority, three languages, who is responsible, and phone-first contact. Many are built badly: 101 of 187 trilingual names could not be found as text and appear to be pictures.
  • Sri Lanka has no shared 'official website' line like the US, Singapore, NSW and Germany. A Sri Lankan design system should standardise the identity block, not delete it.
A wall of 40 Sri Lankan government website headers. Almost every one has a gold round emblem on the left and the institution's name stacked in Sinhala, Tamil and English.
Forty headers that have both the national emblem and a name in three languages. You can tell they are Sri Lankan from across the room.

Easy to spot

While building Overlook, I had the header of every Sri Lankan government website in one grid. Even zoomed out, you can tell they are Sri Lankan: a gold crest on the left, a name written three times, a ministry line underneath, a row of language names in their own scripts.

Next to them on the wall I keep nine government design systems: GOV.UK, the US Web Design System (USWDS), Canada, Australia (AgDS), New South Wales, Estonia (TEDI), Singapore, the Netherlands (NL Design System) and Germany (KERN). I went looking for their version of that header and found almost nothing. So I counted what our headers actually carry, and asked why.

54%of 512 headers show the national emblem
37%write the name in Sinhala, Tamil and English
97%of ministry headers carry the emblem
0 of 9design systems have a name-in-three-languages component

Why bother understanding them

It is tempting to treat these headers as clutter and copy GOV.UK. I think that would be a mistake, for four reasons.

  • They answer real needs. "This is the state", "this is in my language", "who is responsible" and "who do I call" are real questions. The emblem, the trilingual name, the ministry line and the hotline are answers to them.
  • If a design system leaves them out, every site adds them back its own way. That is already happening. A design system that offers no place for the emblem will get 512 home-made versions of it.
  • Some of them cost a lot. On a phone, a header with a trilingual name is 171px tall at the median, about a fifth of the first screen. Headers with neither an emblem nor a trilingual name are 120px.
  • Need is not the same as habit. Some patterns serve citizens. Others are leftovers from 2005. You can only tell which is which once you have looked at them closely.

The anatomy of the header

Here is the typical Sri Lankan government header, drawn as a diagram. Few sites have all eight parts, but most have three or four.

Diagram of a typical Sri Lankan government header: a utility bar with a Gov.lk badge, language names in their own scripts, text-size buttons and a hotline; a main row with the national emblem, the name in Sinhala, Tamil and English, the parent ministry line and a second seal; and a dark menu bar. Gov.lk සිංහල தமிழ் English A+ A A− 1919 Name in Sinhala Name in Tamil Name in English Ministry of … Search HOME ABOUT US DIVISIONS SERVICES DOWNLOADS TENDERS RTI GALLERY CONTACT US 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
  1. 1National emblem · 54%
  2. 2Name in three languages · 37%
  3. 3Parent ministry line · 13%
  4. 4A second mark (own seal or logo) · 27%
  5. 5Gov.lk badge · 10%
  6. 6Language names in own script · 38%
  7. 7Text-size buttons · 8%
  8. 8Hotline number · 6%
A diagram, not a real site. Percentages are the share of 512 usable header captures.

What a Sri Lankan government header carries

Share of 512 desktop headers with each element, read visually from screenshots taken on 29 September 2026. Flag and clock (lighter bars) come almost entirely from one embassy template.

Share of 512 Sri Lankan government website headers carrying each element. National emblem 54%, language names in own script 38%, trilingual name 37%, two marks 27%, flag 13%, clock 13%, parent ministry 13%, Gov.lk badge 10%, text-size buttons 8%, hotline 6%.0%25%50%75%100%National emblemNational emblem: 276 of 512 (53.9%)54%276Language names in own scriptLanguage names in own script: 192 of 512 (37.5%)38%192Name in Sinhala, Tamil and EnglishName in Sinhala, Tamil and English: 187 of 512 (36.5%)37%187Two marks side by sideTwo marks side by side: 140 of 512 (27.3%)27%140Sri Lanka flagSri Lanka flag: 69 of 512 (13.5%)13%69Live clockLive clock: 69 of 512 (13.5%)13%69Parent ministry lineParent ministry line: 66 of 512 (12.9%)13%66Gov.lk badgeGov.lk badge: 53 of 512 (10.4%)10%53Text-size buttons (A+ A A−)Text-size buttons (A+ A A−): 42 of 512 (8.2%)8%42Hotline numberHotline number: 29 of 512 (5.7%)6%29

1. The national emblem

The gold lion crest is the state's own mark. It is on letterheads, the Gazette, official seals and every government office name board. The website header is the letterhead moved online, so the emblem came along. It tells a citizen that this is the government and not a private company with a similar name.

How much it is used depends on how close the institution is to central government. Ministries use it almost always. Universities, banks and companies mostly use their own seal instead.

Ministries carry the emblem; universities carry their own seal

Share of headers with the national emblem and with a name in all three languages, by institution type (types with 15 or more usable headers).

National emblemName in three languages
Share of headers with the national emblem and with a trilingual name, by institution type. Ministries 97% emblem; universities 8%. Diplomatic missions 87% trilingual name.0%25%50%75%100%Ministryn = 31Ministry: trilingual name 39%Ministry: national emblem 97%Departmentn = 70Department: trilingual name 39%Department: national emblem 83%Diplomatic missionn = 71Diplomatic mission: trilingual name 87%Diplomatic mission: national emblem 77%Commissionn = 17Commission: trilingual name 47%Commission: national emblem 76%Hospitaln = 16Hospital: trilingual name 44%Hospital: national emblem 75%Authorityn = 29Authority: trilingual name 38%Authority: national emblem 62%Research & instituten = 36Research & institute: trilingual name 14%Research & institute: national emblem 61%Secretariat & agencyn = 25Secretariat & agency: trilingual name 12%Secretariat & agency: national emblem 48%Board & counciln = 32Board & council: trilingual name 41%Board & council: national emblem 44%Corporation & companyn = 54Corporation & company: trilingual name 13%Corporation & company: national emblem 39%Bank & financen = 35Bank & finance: trilingual name 31%Bank & finance: national emblem 23%University & educationn = 63University & education: trilingual name 29%University & education: national emblem 8%

The closest equivalents in other systems are GOV.UK's crown and Australia's coat of arms. The difference is that theirs come as fixed artwork with set sizes, spacing and colours. Ours are copied from wherever the designer found them, at every size, and sometimes squashed or pixelated.

Sri Lanka, as found

Ministry of Environment header: emblem on the left, name in white on a teal band, Gov.lk badge, language names and A A A buttons on the right.

Ministry of Environment: emblem, English name, Gov.lk badge and text-size buttons.

President's Office header: a small emblem and the name in Sinhala, Tamil and English in small type.

President's Office: a small emblem with the name in three languages.

Design systems

GOV.UK header: a white crown and the GOV.UK wordmark on a blue bar.

GOV.UK: the crown and wordmark, one size and one colour on every service.

Australian Government Design System header: the coat of arms, 'Australian Government' and the department name, beside the service name.

AgDS: coat of arms, "Australian Government" and the department name as one lockup.

2. The name in three languages

Sinhala and Tamil are official languages under the Constitution, and English is the link language. Government letterheads and name boards are normally written in all three, so the header is too. It is the most Sri Lankan pattern in the estate: 187 of 512 headers have it, and almost every embassy does (87%).

Land Commissioner General's Department header: emblem, then the name in Sinhala, Tamil and English in large type, and the ministry name below.
Land Commissioner General's Department: the classic stack, Sinhala first, with the ministry below.
Mahaweli Authority header: the emblem and the authority's own blue seal on the left, the name in three languages, and three stacked language buttons.
Mahaweli Authority: emblem and own seal, the name three times, and the three language buttons stacked too.
Co-operative Employees Commission header: emblem, name in three languages, a coop logo, and three red language buttons.
Co-operative Employees Commission: the name in three languages, with three language buttons beside it.
University of Jaffna header: the university's own green seal and its name in Tamil, Sinhala and English.
University of Jaffna: its own seal, no emblem, and Tamil first.

The idea is right. The way it is built usually is not. I could find the trilingual name as real text in the page code on only 76 of the 187 sites. Most of the rest appear to be one picture of all three lines. A picture of text cannot be read aloud by a screen reader, cannot be found by search, blurs when zoomed, and cannot be marked as Sinhala or Tamil.

Most trilingual names are pictures, not text

Of 187 headers that show the name in Sinhala, Tamil and English, how many have that name as text in the home page's code.

Of 187 trilingual names, 76 exist as text in the page code; 101 could not be found as text and appear to be pictures or drawn by script; 10 sites could not be fetched.76 real text76 real text101 not found as text (mostly pictures)101 not found as text (mostly pictures)10no page187 headers with the name in Sinhala, Tamil and English

On a phone the stack gets worse. Three long names will not fit in 390 pixels, so they wrap, shrink or are cut off.

Land Commissioner General's Department header on a phone: the emblem and name wrap onto five lines and the ministry name is cut off at the bottom.
Wraps to five lines and the ministry line is cut off.
Ministry of Public Administration header on a phone: the trilingual name is a picture shrunk so small it cannot be read.
A picture of the name, shrunk until you cannot read it.
Sri Lanka Embassy in Egypt header on a phone: flag, name in three languages, phone and email fill most of the screen.
An embassy header that fills nearly half the first screen.
Phone captures at 390 × 844. Header median on a phone: 171px with a trilingual name, 120px with neither an emblem nor a trilingual name.

Only one design system has a name in more than one language: Canada's signature, "Government of Canada / Gouvernement du Canada", which comes as a fixed artwork file in a fixed order. Nobody has a three-language version, and nobody has one for scripts as different as Sinhala and Tamil.

Sri Lanka

Embassy of Sri Lanka in Egypt header: emblem, name in Sinhala, Tamil and English, the national flag, phone, email and a live clock.

Embassy in Egypt: three languages, the flag and a live clock.

Canada

Government of Canada signature: the Canadian flag, 'Government of Canada' and 'Gouvernement du Canada', and the Canada wordmark.

Canada's signature: two languages, one fixed lockup.

3. Two marks and a parent ministry

Departments, boards and corporations sit under a ministry. Which ministry changes with each new cabinet: a Gazette notice assigns institutions to ministries, and they move when cabinets change. So many headers carry two identities: the institution's own seal and the national emblem, or their own name with a "Ministry of …" line. 27% show two marks, and 13% name the parent ministry.

Four common ways Sri Lankan headers arrange their marks: emblem and name; emblem and own seal either side of the name; own logo with the parent ministry and emblem on the right; and the embassy layout with emblem, name, flag and clock. Emblem + name Emblem + own seal Own logo + parent ministry 08:07Embassy: + flag + clock
The four arrangements that come up most, drawn as diagrams. Real examples below.
Office for Reparations header: emblem, 'Office for Reparations Sri Lanka', a divider and 'Ministry of Justice and National Integration'.
Office for Reparations: name, a divider, then the ministry. Very close to the Australian lockup.
State Timber Corporation header: emblem, the corporation's own elephant logo, its name and 'Ministry of Environment' in small grey type.
State Timber Corporation: emblem, own logo, and the ministry in small grey type.
Private Health Services Regulatory Council header: emblem, name, 'Ministry of Health' and the council's own seal on the right.
Private Health Services Regulatory Council: emblem left, own seal right.
Department of Export Agriculture header: a busy banner with the emblem, a trilingual name over a photo of crops, an anniversary logo and the ministry name in a top bar.
Department of Export Agriculture: the whole identity block painted into one banner picture.

Australia solved this problem: AgDS has a co-brand lockup with the coat of arms, "Australian Government" and the department name, drawn to fixed rules. NSW has rules for co-branded sites too. Sri Lanka needs the same thing, with three languages and a ministry line that can be updated in one place when the cabinet changes.

4. Language names in their own script

This is the one Sri Lankan pattern the design systems agree with. 38% of headers offer languages as සිංහල, தமிழ் and English, each written in its own script, so someone who reads only Tamil can find "தமிழ்" without reading English. GOV.UK does the same with "Cymraeg", Canada with "Français", and USWDS's language selector asks for language names in their own language.

Sri Lanka

Lanka Phosphate Limited header with Gov.lk badge, the words සිංහල and தமிழ், and A A A text-size buttons on the right.

Lanka Phosphate: සිංහල and தமிழ் in their own scripts, next to the Gov.lk badge.

GOV.UK and Canada

GOV.UK language navigation: 'English' and a link 'Cymraeg'. Canada language toggle: a single link reading 'Français'.

GOV.UK shows both names; Canada shows only the other language.

Where the switcher goes wrong is elsewhere: 12% of sites put a "choose your language" page in front of the home page, and most pages with Sinhala or Tamil text do not mark it as Sinhala or Tamil (see the first post).

5. The utility bar: Gov.lk, A A A and hotlines

A small cluster of headers carries a Gov.lk badge, the language names and A+ A A− text-size buttons, in the same place and the same style. 32 of the 53 sites with the Gov.lk badge also have the text-size buttons, which points to a shared template.

Ten headers from different institutions, all with the emblem on the left and the Gov.lk badge, සිංහල தமிழ் and A A A in the same spot on the right.
Ten sites from one template family: emblem left; Gov.lk badge, language names and text-size buttons right.
  • Gov.lk badge. A link back to the national portal, and a way to say "part of government". It is the nearest thing we have to an official-site line, but only 10% of sites have it and anyone can copy it.
  • Text-size buttons. A leftover from early accessibility advice. Browsers' own zoom does the job better and works on every site, so none of the nine design systems offers these buttons.
  • Hotlines. Short numbers such as 1919 (the Government Information Centre) or a department's own line. Many citizens call rather than click, so 6% of headers put a number at the top. That is a real need, and no design system covers it.
Ministry of Public Administration header in orange with a red hotline badge reading 0112 166 000, A A A buttons and language names.
Ministry of Public Administration: hotline, text-size buttons and language names together.
Sri Lanka Excise Department header with a top bar reading '24-Hour Hotline: 1913', the general line and email.
Excise Department: a 24-hour hotline as the first thing on the page.

6. One template, 62 embassies

The Foreign Ministry's missions abroad share one template: emblem, the mission's name in three languages, the national flag, phone, email and a live clock showing local time. 62 of the 69 headers with a flag or a clock are these missions.

Eight Sri Lankan embassy and high commission headers, identical in layout: emblem, name in Sinhala, Tamil and English, the national flag, contact details and a clock.
Eight missions, one layout. Some have a gap where the emblem should be.

This is what a shared component does: 62 sites look like one service, and one fix would reach all of them. It also shows the risk. The same header takes nearly half of a phone's first screen on every one of them, and where the emblem image failed to load, it failed on all of them at once.

7. Below the header: ministers, vision and related links

The same pattern carries on down the home page. These blocks are common here and rare in other countries' guidance.

Land Reform Commission home page: a photo slider above four cards with portraits of the Minister, Deputy Minister, Chairman and Director General, each with 'View Message'.
The leadership ladder: Minister, Deputy Minister, Chairman, Director General, each with a "message".
Ministry of Buddhasasana home page: an About Us block beside a column of portraits for the Minister, two Deputy Ministers and the Secretary.
A ministry home page: portraits of the Minister, two Deputy Ministers and the Secretary beside "About us".
Department of Buddhist Affairs: three orange icons labelled Vision, Mission and Objectives, each with a sentence below.
Vision, Mission, Objectives: lifted from the annual report onto the home page.
Disaster Management Centre footer: a row of logos linking to other government bodies, above call centre and emergency numbers.
A row of other agencies' logos: each site acts as a small directory of government.

What else Sri Lankan home pages carry

Share of 512 home pages whose page code contains each block. Text matching on the downloaded page, so sites built with JavaScript are under-counted. Treat as rough.

Share of 512 home pages with each content block, from a text scan of the page code.0%20%40%60%Vacancies / careersVacancies / careers: 280 of 512 (54.7%)55%Tenders / procurementTenders / procurement: 239 of 512 (46.7%)47%DownloadsDownloads: 212 of 512 (41.4%)41%Names a minister, secretary or chairmanNames a minister, secretary or chairman: 148 of 512 (28.9%)29%Right to Information (RTI)Right to Information (RTI): 146 of 512 (28.5%)29%Links to 5+ other gov.lk sitesLinks to 5+ other gov.lk sites: 139 of 512 (27.1%)27%Mentions the PresidentMentions the President: 132 of 512 (25.8%)26%Vision and MissionVision and Mission: 85 of 512 (16.6%)17%Visitor counterVisitor counter: 62 of 512 (12.1%)12%GazetteGazette: 58 of 512 (11.3%)11%News tickerNews ticker: 51 of 512 (10.0%)10%Citizen's CharterCitizen's Charter: 16 of 512 (3.1%)3%
  • Leadership blocks show who is accountable, and in Sri Lanka political leadership is part of how a ministry presents itself. The cost is that the home page's best space goes to people rather than tasks, and every cabinet change leaves old names and photos behind. GOV.UK puts ministers on the organisation's "who we are" page, not the top of the home page.
  • Vision and Mission come from the annual report and corporate plan. They matter to the institution, but citizens rarely come looking for them.
  • Related links exist because there is no single government website. Each site points to its siblings because nothing else does. GOV.UK solved that by putting the government on one domain.
  • RTI, Tenders, Vacancies, Downloads are there because of rules and demand. The Right to Information Act (No. 12 of 2016) asks public bodies to name information officers and publish proactively, and procurement rules require public notices. These are good candidates for standard page templates.

How the design systems compare

Here is every Sri Lankan pattern above against the nine design systems. A large dot means the system publishes a component for it.

Most Sri Lankan header patterns have no design-system equivalent

Whether each of nine government design systems publishes a component for the pattern, from their component catalogues (October 2026). First column: share of Sri Lankan headers using the pattern.

Which of nine government design systems publish a component for each Sri Lankan header pattern. Official website strip: USWDS, NSW, Singapore, KERN. Government and agency lockup: AgDS, NSW. Language switcher: GOV.UK, USWDS, Canada, TEDI, NL Design System. Name in more than one language: Canada. Parent body line: AgDS. Name in three languages, text-size buttons, hotline in header, leadership block: none.Sri LankaGOV.UKUSWDSCanadaAgDSNSWTEDISingaporeNL DSKERN"Official website" strip—GOV.UK: noUSWDS: yesCanada: noAgDS: noNSW: yesTEDI: noSingapore: yesNL DS: noKERN: yes4 of 9Government + agency lockup27%GOV.UK: noUSWDS: noCanada: noAgDS: yesNSW: yesTEDI: noSingapore: noNL DS: noKERN: no2 of 9Language switcher38%GOV.UK: yesUSWDS: yesCanada: yesAgDS: noNSW: noTEDI: yesSingapore: noNL DS: yesKERN: no5 of 9Name in more than one language37%GOV.UK: noUSWDS: noCanada: yesAgDS: noNSW: noTEDI: noSingapore: noNL DS: noKERN: no1 of 9Name in three languages37%GOV.UK: noUSWDS: noCanada: noAgDS: noNSW: noTEDI: noSingapore: noNL DS: noKERN: no0 of 9Parent ministry line13%GOV.UK: noUSWDS: noCanada: noAgDS: yesNSW: noTEDI: noSingapore: noNL DS: noKERN: no1 of 9Text-size buttons8%GOV.UK: noUSWDS: noCanada: noAgDS: noNSW: noTEDI: noSingapore: noNL DS: noKERN: no0 of 9Hotline in header6%GOV.UK: noUSWDS: noCanada: noAgDS: noNSW: noTEDI: noSingapore: noNL DS: noKERN: no0 of 9Leadership block on home page~29%GOV.UK: noUSWDS: noCanada: noAgDS: noNSW: noTEDI: noSingapore: noNL DS: noKERN: no0 of 9

The biggest gap is a line that four of the nine systems treat as mandatory: an "official website" strip at the very top of every page. The US says "An official website of the United States government", Singapore says "A Singapore Government Agency Website", NSW and Germany have their own. Each comes with a short "how to check" note: official sites use the government domain and HTTPS. Singapore's rule is blunt: "All .gov.sg digital services shall adopt the Official Government Banner at the top of every page."

USWDS banner previews: 'An official website of the United States government. Here's how you know', in .gov, .mil and Spanish versions.
USWDS: one sentence, four versions, "Use the provided text without customization."
Singapore Government masthead, expanded: 'A Singapore Government Agency Website. How to identify', with notes that official sites end in .gov.sg and use HTTPS.
Singapore: the masthead opens to explain how to tell an official site.

Sri Lanka has nothing shared. The emblem is doing that job, but anyone can copy an emblem. A common line saying "An official website of the Government of Sri Lanka", in Sinhala, Tamil and English, with "official sites end in gov.lk", would be cheap to build and would help with fake sites that copy government pages.

Keep, standardise, replace

Not every pattern deserves to survive. This is how I would sort them for a Sri Lankan government design system.

PatternVerdictWhy
National emblemStandardiseA real trust signal. Supply it as one measured file with a minimum size and spacing, like the crown or the coat of arms.
Name in three languagesStandardiseKeep it, but as real text with each line marked as Sinhala, Tamil or English. On a phone, show the page's language and drop the other two to a second line or the footer.
Parent ministry lineStandardiseMake it part of the lockup, like AgDS, and feed it from one central list so a cabinet change updates every site.
Language names in own scriptKeepAlready matches GOV.UK, Canada and USWDS. Link to the same page in the other language, not a gate.
"Official website" lineAddMissing today. Four of the nine systems require one.
HotlineKeepA real need. Give it a standard place, such as a contact link in the header and the number in the footer.
Two marks side by sideFixAllow the institution's seal next to the national lockup at a fixed size, and stop there.
Leadership blockMovePut it on the "About us" page. Keep the home page for what citizens came to do.
Related links stripReplaceUse one shared "part of the Government of Sri Lanka" footer instead of each site's own logo row.
Text-size buttonsRetireBrowser zoom does it better; none of the nine systems offers them.
News ticker, visitor counterRetireUse a notification banner for urgent news; drop the counter.

Put together, the keepers make a header that is still clearly Sri Lankan and much lighter. Here is a sketch.

A sketch of a standard Sri Lankan government header. Desktop: a thin dark strip reading 'An official website of the Government of Sri Lanka, how to check'; the emblem; the institution's name as text; the parent ministry below; language links සිංහල, தமிழ், English; search; and a menu. Phone: the same strip, emblem and name in one language, language links and a menu button. DESKTOP An official website of the Government of Sri Lanka · How to check Department of Example Services Ministry of … (from one central list) සිංහල தமிழ் English Search Services Apply Downloads Tenders RTI About us Contact 123456 PHONE Official website of the Government of Sri Lanka · How to check Department of Example Services සිංහල தமிழ் English
  1. 1Shared "official website" line, in the page's language
  2. 2Emblem from one supplied file, fixed size
  3. 3Name as real text in the page's language, marked with its language
  4. 4Parent ministry fed from a central list
  5. 5Language names in their own script, linking to the same page
  6. 6Menu built around tasks, not the organisation chart
A sketch to start a conversation, not a finished design. On an English page the Sinhala and Tamil names move to the matching language pages instead of stacking.

The patterns are not the problem. Building them 512 different ways is.

How I counted

Header elements: five AI vision agents each read seven contact sheets of labelled desktop header screenshots (the Overlook capture of 29 September 2026) and listed what each header showed. 512 of 557 headers were usable. Emblem, trilingual name, flag, clock and language names are reliable. On the language switcher, the result (37.5%) matches Overlook's separate code-based audit (36.8%). "Own seal" and "two marks" are noisier. Content blocks: a text scan of 512 home pages downloaded on 7 October 2026. Design systems: each system's own component catalogue and guidance as published in October 2026. You can look at every header yourself in Overlook.

Questions people ask

What makes a Sri Lankan government website header different?

Most combine the national emblem, the institution's name in Sinhala, Tamil and English, and often the parent ministry's name. In a visual read of 512 headers, 54% showed the emblem, 37% a trilingual name and 13% a parent-ministry line.

Do government design systems like GOV.UK have these components?

Partly. Four of nine systems (USWDS, NSW, Singapore, KERN) have an 'official website' strip, Australia's AgDS and NSW have a government-plus-agency lockup, and five have a language switcher. None has a component for a name in three languages, a parent-ministry line, text-size buttons, a hotline in the header or a leadership block.

Why do Sri Lankan government sites show the name in three languages?

Sinhala and Tamil are official languages and English is the link language under the Constitution, and government letterheads and name boards are normally trilingual. The website header copies the letterhead.

What should a Sri Lankan government design system do with these patterns?

Keep and standardise the identity block (emblem, name, parent ministry) as one measured lockup set in real text, add a shared 'official website of the Government of Sri Lanka' line, keep language names in their own script, and replace text-size buttons, news tickers and visitor counters with standard components.

GovTechSri LankaDesign systemsUX researchMultilingualAccessibility

Published . Header counts from 512 usable header captures (29 September 2026), read visually; content-block counts from a text scan of 512 home pages (7 October 2026). Read as Markdown.

Amila Sampath

I design and build things at the edge of design and data. Overlook is a personal, independent experiment on top of Lanka Data Foundation's open scorecard.

More posts

What 575 Sri Lankan government websites tell us, and what AI got rightLanka Data Foundation's volunteers scored every Sri Lankan government website in one day. I tried to rebuild that research alone, with a browser robot and an AI assistant. Here is what I built, what it found, and where the machine and the volunteers disagreed.