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| 70th anniversary of Triranga | | Making of The National Flag | 
By K B Jandial
Today is the 70th anniversary of India’s National Flag. On this day in 1947, the national Constituent Assembly adopted the Tricolor as a Flag for independent India which was yet to born 24 days later.
Every nation has its national flag which is a symbol of its freedom. India too got a National Flag, popularly called Triranga, which represents the hopes and aspirations of its people. It is the symbol of our national pride. The Triranga served as the national flag of the Dominion of India from 15th August 1947 and on 26th January 1950, it became the flag of f the Republic of India. Fluttering Triranga generates a common feeling oneness and pride among the people.
Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi had explained the necessity of an appropriate flag for an independent country saying, “The unfurling of the Union Jack evokes in the English breast sentiments whose strength it is difficult to measure. The Stars and Stripes mean a world to the Americans. The Star and the Crescent will call forth the best bravery in Islam." He had said,"It will be necessary for us Indians Hindus, Muslims, Christians Jews, Parsis, and all others to whom India is their home to recognize a common flag to live and to die for."
Since Independence, thousands of people including armed forces have ungrudgingly laid down their lives to keep the Tricolour flying in its full glory.
The Tiranga as it is often called has three horizontal bars of deep saffron (Kesari) at the top indicating the strength and courage of the country, white in the middle represents peace and truth and dark green at the bottom shows the fertility, growth and auspiciousness of the land. The ratio of width of the flag to its length is two to three. In the centre of the white band has a navy blue wheel taken from the abacus of the Sarnath Lion made by the 3rd-century BC Emperor Ashoka. This Dharma Chakra depicted the "wheel of the law". The chakra intends to show that there is life in movement and death in stagnation. Its diameter approximates to the width of the white band and it has 24 spokes. It is made only from khadi, domestically spun Indian cotton, as a symbol of nationalism and freedom.
The Tricolour has a long history. Its evolution sailed through many vicissitudes to arrive at what it is today. In one way it reflects the political developments in the nation. Each of the milestones in the evolution of our National Flag represented a historical event. The first flag in its evolution is said to have been hoisted on August 7, 1906, in the Parsee Bagan Square (Green Park) in Calcutta. The flag was composed of three horizontal strips of red, yellow and green. The top red strip had 8 lotuses and the bottom green had crescent and sun. The second one was the one that was hoisted in Paris by Bhikaji Cama and her band of exiled revolutionaries in 1907. This was very similar to the first flag except that the top strip had only one lotus but seven stars denoting the Saptarishi. The third flag went up in 1917 when Indian political struggle had taken a decisive turn. Dr. Annie Besant and Lokmanya Tilak hoisted it during the Home Rule movement. This flag had five red and four green horizontal strips arranged alternately, with seven stars in the saptarishi configuration super-imposed on them. In the left-hand top corner (the pole end) was the Union Jack. There was also a white crescent and star in one corner.
During All India Congress Committee session at Bezwada (now Vijayawada) in 1921 an Andhra youth Pingali Venkayya who had designed a flag, took it to Gandhiji who liked it. It was of two colours-red and green. Gandhiji suggested the addition of a white strip and the spinning wheel to symbolise progress of the nation. The year 1931 was a landmark in the history of the flag as resolution was passed adopting Tricolor flag as our national flag. This flag, the forbear of the present one, was saffron, white and green with Mahatma Gandhi's spinning wheel at the center. It was, however, clearly stated that the colours bore no communal significance and were to be interpreted as such.
Navy blue colour of the Chakra in the centre of the flag indicates the most truth of the universe and it represents the colour of sky and ocean. While the chakra intends to show that there is life in movement and death in stagnation and as such, the nation shall keep moving towards progress and prosperity pacing with technological advancement.
Despite good intention and sincere efforts, some elements did try to create controversy over the flag. Some linked these 24 spokes to Hindu mythology that talks about 24 noble Indian values. These are Love, Courage, Patience, Peacefulness, Magnanimity, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Selflessness, Self-Control, Self Sacrifice, Truthfulness, Righteousness, Justice, Mercy, Gracefulness, Humility, Empathy, Sympathy, Spiritual Knowledge, Moral Values, Spiritual Knowledge, Moral Values, Spiritual Wisdom, Fear of God and Faith.
There are some who attribute 24 spokes to 24 precious hours of the day (Samay Chakra) while others link these to Puranas. The Chakra is said to represent 24 Hindu Dharma Rishis who wielded power of the “Gayatri Mantra”, each Rishi representing each of the letters of the Mantra.
In the Constituent Assembly, Pt Jawaharlal Nehru moved the following Resolution July 22, 1947: “Resolved that the National Flag of India shall be horizontal Tricolour of deep Saffron (Kesari), white and dark green in equal proportion. In the centre of the white band, there shall be a Wheel in navy blue to represent the Charkha. The design of the Wheel shall be that of the Wheel (Chakra) which appears in the abacus of the Sarnath, Lion Capital of Asoka. The diameter of the Wheel shall approximate to the width of the white band. The ratio of the width to the length of the Flag shall ordinarily be 2:3."
In his passionate speech Nehru said that, “Some people having misunderstood its significance have thought of it in communal terms and believe that some part of it represents this community or that. But, I may say that when this flag was devised there was no communal significance attached to it.We thought of a design for a Flag which was beautiful, because the symbol of a nation must be beautiful to look at. We thought of a Flag which would in its combination and in its separate parts would somehow represent the spirit of the nation, the tradition of the nation, that mixed spirit and tradition which has grown up through thousands of years in India. So, we devised this Flag.”
On replacing Gandhiji’s charkha by Ashoka Charkha in the Flag, Nehru said, “Normally speaking, the symbol on one side-of the Flag should be exactly the same as on the other side. Otherwise, there is a difficulty which goes against the rules. Now, the Charkha, as it appeared previously on this Flag, had the wheel on one side and the spindle on the other. If you see the other side of the Flag, the spindle comes the other way and the wheel comes this way; if it does not do so, it is not proportionate, because the wheel must be towards the pole, not towards the end of the Flag. There was this practical difficulty”.
The significance of the colours and the chakra in the National Flag was aptly described by the philosopher Sarvepalli Radhakrishnanin the Constituent Assembly. He explained-“Bhagwa or the saffron colour denotes renunciation or disinterestedness. Our leaders must be indifferent to material gains and dedicate themselves to their work. The white in the centre is light, the path of truth to guide our conduct. The green shows our relation to soil, our relation to the plant life on which all other life depends. The Ashoka wheel in the centre of the white is the wheel of the law of dharma; truth or satya, dharma or virtue ought to be the controlling principles of those who work under this flag. Again, the wheel denotes motion. There is death in stagnation. There is life in movement. India should no more resist change, it must move and go forward. The wheel represents the dynamism of a peaceful change.”
The Govt enacted laws to regulate hoisting of the Flag through statutory and non-statutory instructions issued by the Govt from time to time. It was also governed by the Emblems & Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950, The Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971. Making The National as a proud national emblem of every Indian, the Parliament enacted The Flag code Of India, 2002 that was effective from 26th January 2002 that superseded the earlier Flag Code-India. The new Code is very comprehensive document covers all provisions relating to the National Flag. It has 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.
After several years of independence, the proud citizens of India were allowed to hoist the Indian flag over their homes, offices and factories on any day and not just National days as used to be done earlier. Now, Indians can proudly display the Tricolour anywhere and anytime during day, subject to the provisions of the Flag Code without any disrespect to the Tricolour. Some basic do’s and don’ts include hoisting of the National Flag 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; he flag cannot be used for commercial 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 and not 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.
(The writer is former Secretary Information, health, transport, CAPD departments and a member of Public Service Commission, feedback: [email protected])
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