Interesting facts on Indian Flag

Every free nation of the world has its own flag. It is a symbol of a free country. The Indian National Flag is a symbol of national pride for the entire nation.

History Of Indian Tricolor

The National Flag of India was adopted in its present form during the meeting of Constituent Assembly held on the 22 July 1947, a few days before India's independence from the British on 15 August, 1947. It served as the national flag of the Dominion of India between 15 August 1947 and 26 January 1950 and that of the Republic of India thereafter. In India, the term "tricolour" refers to the Indian national flag.

Colours of the Flag

The Indian flag, in its present form, has three equal, parallel, and rectangular stripes of saffron (Kesari), white, and green. A blue-coloured Dharma Chakra or ‘Wheel of the Law’ with 24 spikes is placed in the centre of the white band. The top band is of Saffron colour, indicates the strength, courage and the spirit of renunciation of the country.  The white middle band indicates peace and truth with Dharma Chakra. The last band is green in colour shows the fertility, growth and auspiciousness of the land.

The Chakra

The Chakra denotes the continual progress of the country. Its blue colour connotes the boundless sky and fathomless sea. The founding fathers of India wanted limitless growth for the nation. This Dharma Chakra depicted the "wheel of the law" in the Sarnath Lion Capital made by the 3rd-century BC Mauryan Emperor Ashoka. The chakra intends to show that there is life in movement and death in stagnation.

Pingali Venkaya’s Design of the National Flag

The flag, as we see it today, has gone through various changes before taking its present shape. The first Indian flag came into being in the pre-independence era, in 1904. It was made by Sister Nivedita, an Irish disciple of Swami Vivekananda. This flag had two colours, red and yellow, wherein red signified the freedom struggle and yellow was a symbol of victory. The words Bande Mataram in Bengali script were written on it. The flag also contained a figure of Vajra, the weapon of the Hindu deity Indra, and a white lotus in the middle. The Vajra is a symbol of strength, and the lotus depicts purity.

Another flag was designed in 1906, which was a tricolour flag with three equal strips – blue at the top, yellow in the middle, and red at the bottom. In this flag, the blue strip had eight stars of slightly different shapes. The red strip had two symbols: the first one was of the sun, and the other one contained a star and a crescent. The yellow strip had the words Vande Mataram written on it in Devanagari script. In the same year, another version of tri-colour was created, which had orange, yellow, and green colours. It came to be known as the ‘Calcutta Flag’ or the ‘Lotus Flag’, as it had eight half-opened red coloured flag had a comparatively larger size of flowers.

In 1921, Pingali Venkaya, a young man from a small village near Machilipatnam, in present-day Andhra Pradesh, designed a flag which had white, red, and green colours with a Charkha or spinning wheel in the centre. This flag was rejected as it represented the colours of religious communities. In 1931, the ‘Swaraj’ flag came into existence, which had a close resemblance to our present National flag. This tricolour flag had the same saffron, white, and green colours as in our current National flag. The only difference was that instead of a Dharma Chakra, it had a Charkha and was adopted by the Constituent Assembly.

As per the Flag Code of India, the National Flag should be rectangular in shape. The ratio of its width to its length is two is to three. The National Flag of India should be made up of hand-spun and hand-woven wool/ cotton/ silk khadi bunting. The hand-woven khadi for the National Flag was initially manufactured at Garag, a small village in Dharwad district in north Karnataka. 

Flag Code

On 26th January 2002, the Indian flag code was modified and after several years of independence, the citizens of India were finally allowed to hoist the Indian flag over their homes, offices and factories on any day and not just National days as was the case earlier. Now Indians can proudly display the national flag any where and any time, as long as the provisions of the Flag Code are strictly followed to avoid any disrespect to the tricolour. For the sake of convenience, Flag Code of India, 2002, has been divided into three parts.

• Part I of the Code contains general description of the National Flag.
• Part II of the Code is devoted to the display of the National Flag by members of public, private organizations, educational institutions, etc.
• Part III of the Code relates to display of the National Flag by Central and State governments and their organisations and agencies.

There are some rules and regulations upon how to fly the flag, based on the 26 January 2002 legislation. These include the following:

The Do's:

• The National Flag may be hoisted in educational institutions (schools, colleges, sports camps, scout camps, etc.) to inspire respect for the Flag. An oath of allegiance has been included in the flag hoisting in schools.
• A member of public, a private organization or an educational institution may hoist/display the National Flag on all days and occasions, ceremonial or otherwise consistent with the dignity and honour of the National Flag.
• Section 2 of the new code accepts the right of all private citizens to fly the flag on their premises.

The Don'ts:

• The flag cannot be used for communal gains, drapery, or clothes. As far as possible, it should be flown from sunrise to sunset, irrespective of the weather.
• The flag cannot be intentionally allowed to touch the ground or the floor or trail in water. It cannot be draped over the hood, top, and sides or back of vehicles, trains, boats or aircraft.
• No other flag or bunting can be placed higher than the flag. Also, no object, including flowers or garlands or emblems can be placed on or above the flag. The tricolour cannot be used as a festoon, rosette or bunting.

The largest Indian Flag

On 15 January 2022, on the occasion of the Army Day, the Indian Army unveiled the world’s largest Tiranga, as the Indian National Tricolour Flag is popularly called, at Jaisalmer. It was made of khadi and measured 33,750 sq. ft.!! 

Source : Har Ghar Tiranga portal