 Traditional Sinhala idioms such as 'a change in the jungle will not change the spots of a "kotiyā"', confirms the traditional use of 'kotiyā' to refer to the leopard and not to the tiger.The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil Tigers) were colloquially known to the Sinhala-speaking community as 'Koti', the plural form of 'Kotiyā'.The Tamil Tigers have chosen the Sri Lankan leopard as the national animal of the aspired state of Tamil Eelam, and the Chola Tiger as its flag.