Independence Day 2023: India gained its independence from British rule on August 15, 1947. Since then, Independence Day is celebrated every year with great joy and pride. Furthermore, this year the 77th Independence Day will be celebrated under the ‘Amrit Mahotsav’ campaign, with the theme ‘Nation First, Always First’.
This article will help you to know the history of the Indian tricolor.
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About the National Flag
The national flag of India has a horizontal stripe of three colors including deep saffron (Kesaria) at the top, white in the middle and dark green at the bottom. The ratio between the width of the flag and its length is 2:3. On the white band, in the center, there is a Navi-blue wheel that represents the chakra.
Do you know what these colors indicate?
– The upper saffron color indicates the strength and courage of the country.
– The white middle band indicates peace and truth with Dharma Chakra.
– Green shows fertility, growth and good omens of the earth.
– The design of the wheel resembles the abacus wheel of Ashoka’s Lion Capital Sarnath. Its diameter is approximately the width of the white band and it has 24 rays.
Let us tell you that on July 22, 1947, the Indian Constituent Assembly adopted the design of the National Flag.
Now, we will study the evolution or journey of the tricolor National Flag of India.
Several changes took place in our National Flag since its creation. Through various vicissitudes, our evolution of the National Flag navigated until it reached what it is today. We can say that it reflects the political evolution of the nation. The historical milestones in the evolution of the National Flag are the following:
1. The evolution of the Indian flag dates back to the pre-independence era. In 1904-1906, the first Indian flag emerged and it was made by an Irish disciple of Swami Vivekananda, Sister Nivedita. After some time, the flag became known as Sister Nivedita’s Flag. The flag is made up of red and yellow colors. Red meant the fight for freedom and yellow is a symbol of victory. In Bengali words “Bonde Matoram” was written. It also contained a figure of ‘Vajra’, the weapon of the god ‘Indra’, and a white lotus in the middle. The ‘Vajra’ symbol represents the strength and purity of the lotus.
2. Another flag was also designed in 1906. It was a tricolor flag with three equal stripes of blue at the top, yellow in the middle, and red at the bottom. The blue stripe consists of eight stars of slightly different shapes. The red stripe had two symbols, one of the sun and one of a star and a crescent moon. On the yellow strip, ‘Vande Mataram’ was written in Devanagari script.
3. On August 7, 1906, the first unofficial national flag appeared in India.
n hoisted in Parsee Bagan Square (Green Park) in Kolkata, now Calcutta. The flag consists of three horizontal stripes of red, yellow and green. It became known as ‘Flag of Calcutta or ‘Lotus Flag’. In the middle is written Vande Matram. The red stripe had two symbols, one of the sun and the other of a crescent moon. The green stripe had eight half-open lotuses. The flag is believed to have been designed by Sachindra Prasad Bose and Sukumar Mitra. Let us tell you that the flag unfurling was celebrated as a ‘boycott day’ against the partition of Bengal and Surendranath Banerjee hoisted the flag to mark the unity of India.
4. On August 22, 1907, Madame Cama unfurled the flag in Stuttgart, Germany. The flag is believed to have been designed collectively by Madam Cama, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and Shyamji Krishna Varma. The flag achieved the status of the first Indian flag to be flown in a foreign country. It also became known as the “Berlin Committee flag”. The flag was similar to the first flag except for the top stripe. It also consists of three colors: green at the top, golden saffron in the middle, and red at the bottom.
5. In 1916, Pingali Venkaya also designed a flag after the approval of Mahatma Gandhi. Pingali Venkaya was a writer and geophysicist. Mahatma Gandhi told him to incorporate a charkha in the flag as a symbol of India’s economic regeneration. He created a flag with hand-spun ‘Khadi’ thread and it had two colours, red and green, and the ‘Charkha’ was drawn on them. But Mahatma Gandhi did not approve. According to him, red represented the Hindu community and green represented the Muslims, but the other communities of India were not represented in the flag.
6. In 1917, the Autonomous League adopted a new flag. Let us tell you that the Autonomous League was formed by Bal Gangadhar Tilak. It was the time when Dominion status was required in India. The flag consists of the Union Jack at the top, near the hoist. The rest of the flag had five red and four blue stripes. In the form of the constellation ‘Saptarishi’, it had seven stars. It consists of a crescent moon and a star at the upper end of the fly. But this flag did not gain popularity among the masses.
7. At the All India Congress Committee session held at Bezwada in 1921 (now Vijayawada), a young man from Andhra prepared a flag and took it to Gandhiji. The flag was made up of two colors red and green representing the two main communities Hindu and Muslim. At that time Gandhiji suggested adding a white stripe on the flag to represent the other communities of India and the spinning wheel to symbolize the progress of the nation. We can say that the flag was unofficially adopted in 1921.
8. In the history of the flag, the year 1931 is important. This year the resolution to adopt a tricolor flag as our national flag was passed. It consists of three colors, including saffron, white, and green, with Mahatma Gandhi’s spinning wheel at its center. He also stated that it had no community significance and should be interpreted as such. Therefore, we can say that this flag was adopted in 1931.
9. The Constituent Assembly of July 22, 1947 adopted it as the National Flag of Free India. After Independence, the colors and meaning remained the same. Only the change that took place was that instead of the spinning wheel, the Dharma Chakra of Emperor Ashoka was adopted as the emblem of the national flag. In time, the tricolor of the Congress Party became the tricolor of Independent India.
What is the flag code?
The Indian Flag Code was amended on January 26, 2002 and after several years of independence; Finally, Indian citizens were allowed to hoist the Indian flag in their homes, offices and factories on any day and not just on national days, as was the case before. According to the flag code, any Indian can proudly display the national flag anywhere and anytime, but should not disrespect the tricolor. Therefore, the Indian Flag Code 2002 has been divided into three parts. In Part I a general description of the National Flag is given. In Part II, the display of the National Flag by members of the public, private organizations, educational institutions, etc. is mentioned. In Part III, the display of the National Flag by the Central and State Governments and their organizations and agencies. Let us tell you that there are some rules and regulations on how to fly the flag based on the legislation of January 26, 2002.
Now, you may have come to know about the evolution journey of the National Flag of India.
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: ptivs2.edu.vn