Our sentiments for our nation is always high. But much needs to done in widening our knowledge about the evolution of our national flag.
Our tricolour or tiranga is a combination of top saffron colour, a pristine white in
The center with green as a last band. The chakra has 24 spokes and is in derived
From the Ashoka pillar. The indigenous material of India, “khadi” is required for the making of our Indian national flag.
To have a meaningful and comprehensive understanding of our National Flag it is essential to understand the nature of the struggle for independence of India. As the movement progressed from the initial stages of prayer and petitions for dominion status to a mass movement for complete independence, our great leaders formulated and adopted certain principles and ideals. These principles and ideals not only gave an ideological content and direction to the movement but also provided the vision of the form that the independent Indian state would take. Undoubtedly, Gandhiji's philosophy of non-violence greatly influenced the character and method of the movement. But it is very important that we pay attention to the modem western principles of democracy, equality, justice and the civil libertarian and secular ideals that our leaders embraced. So, given the ethos of our independence movement, it was only natural that after attaining independence, India would follow the path to becoming a democratic and secular modern republican nation. Therefore, the Tricolour embodies and represents these modem ideals of democracy, justice, liberty and secularism, which keep our diverse cultures, regions, religious and linguistic groups (within such a vast geographical area) together as one nation-India. Simply put, when we say that we work to safeguard and strengthen the ideals of our flag, we actually strengthen our unity, even while celebrating our pluralism.
Vision : Our primary vision is to popularize the display of the Tiranga by more and more Indians, with a great sense of pride. When we display the flag we rise above narrow considerations of religion, caste, language, region, etc. and it reminds us of being, first and foremost, an Indian. At the same time, it represents every Indian religion, language, culture and region. It celebrates our rich diversity. It is, thus, the greatest symbol of our 'unity in diversity'. The Tricolour became a powerful symbol of our struggle for independence and served as a great source of inspiration for countless Indians, who made extreme sacrifices for the cause of Mother India's freedom.
Mission : The current age has seen an increasing trend of nationalism and patriotism becoming mere slogans. We are slowly loosing the sense of pride and love that we had for our country. The Flag Foundation of India is an attempt to rekindle that spirit of nationalism. By choosing the path of striving to uphold the dignity of the Tiranga, this project aims at regenerating that sense of pride and removing those layers of hesitation which keep us from living a life of a true nationalist. Today's education system is such that we are given all education excluding the education that generates morality, patriotism and nationalism. We are slowly forgetting the importance of the nation in our lives. We tend to take Patriotism as a trademark of the armed forces. Since independence our brave soldiers have been laying down their lives with pride, so that, the Tricolour may fly high with dignity. Remember the time when India wins a cricket match and you wave the Indian Flag with grace and passion. The Flag Foundation of India is an initiative to trigger our senses. It is an attempt to strive for the up-lifting of the true sense of nationalism. The Tiranga embodies our modem democratic, secular and liberal values, which should be embraced by all Indians in their endeavor to build a strong and progressive India, which would take its rightful place in the world. To take the message of our Tiranga to every Indian, we intend to make use of all available and appropriate mediums, such as -ART AND CULTURE (Printing and photography exhibitions, Cultural programs and festivals, Performing Arts etc.), SEMINARS, WORKSHOPS and COLLABORATION with other civil society and advocacy groups, professionals, corporate houses, educationists and other like-minded individuals with a special focus on children and the youth of India.
The Hon'ble Supreme Court on 23rd January, 2004 dismissed the Civil Appeal No.2920 of 1996 arising out of SLP No. 1888 of 1996 filed by Union of India against the judgment and order dated 22nd September, 1995 of Delhi High Court and held that:
Right to fly the National Flag freely with respect and dignity is a fundamental right of a citizen within the meaning of Article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution of India being an expression and manifestation of his allegiance and feelings and sentiments of pride for the nation;
The fundamental right to fly National Flag is not an absolute right but a qualified one being subject to reasonable restrictions under clause 2 of Article 19 of the Constitution of India;
The Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950 and the- Prevention of Insults to national honour Act, 1971 regulate the use of the
National FlagFlag Code although is not a law within the meaning of Article 13(3)(a) of the Constitution of India for the purpose of clause (2) of Article 19 thereof, it would not restrictively regulate the free exercise of the right of flying the national flag. However, the Flag Code to the extent it provides for preserving respect and dignity of the National Flag, the same deserves to be followed.Thus, the decade old legal battle was over and the Indian flag was finally free. The citizens got the freedom to express their nationalist emotions by displaying the Indian tricolor. This was victory of all Indians and independent India. Every Indian can now fly the flag with due respect as a result of Naveen Jindal's persistent and untiring efforts. Liberty has at last been bestowed on "We the People".
What has been the underlying spirit that the Indian flag symbolizes?- Fraternity in liberty rather than untrammeled pursuit of individual happiness. - Fraternity through justice rather than justice as equality in mediocrity. - Diversity and unity rather than diversity by itself or unity by itself. - Panchsheel in relation to the rest of the world rather than any dream of world hegemony. Into that heaven let our country awake.
A flag by itself cannot hold a whole big nation like ours enthralled with national pride. But it can help inculcate a spirit of unity and friendship amongst its young citizens. What the three colours stand for and the duties of every citizen in our developing country should be explained to the school children. They should also learn that other nations and other people around ours should be given the same love and respect we give ourselves.
The National Flag is like a symbol of our Indian identity - that we are definitely a part of the national whole. Without this we are left as lonely cronies roaming in the jungle.
How can a poor man who doesn't have food be patriotic? Scores of people are leaving India to go and settle overseas not because they lack patriotism but because those countries are able to offer them job security and opportunities, which our country is unable to. Therefore if you want widespread respect for the country and its symbols like the flag then you need to give a certain dignity to the people by ensuring that their basic needs are met. Otherwise the government, the bureaucrats and the politicians can keep talking about patriotism but it will not have any widespread effect.
Indeed, the very denial of the right to fly the Flag to the Indian citizen - as was the existing status quo for decades after independence - is itself the manifestation of a psychological mind set, a subservience to imperial and colonial notions of governance and a slavish approach to nationhood. Such a denial perpetuates the hiatus between the governors and the governed which is fundamentally antithetical to the very concept of a Republic signified by the emotive and euphoric opening words of our Constitution - "We the people…"
Extract from Senior Advocate Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi's arguments in the Flag case in the Supreme Court of India
The ‘Sister Nivedita flag’ was the first ever flag of India in 1904. It was square shaped and red in colour with a yellow inside. The Vajra symbol or the thunderbolt and a lotus in white is mentioned in the middle. ‘Bonde Matorom’ or ‘Vande Mataram’ or ‘I bow to my motherland’ is inscribed in the Bengali language. Red for struggle, white for purity and yellow for winning is symbolizes in the colours. The Calcutta flag by Schindra Prasad Bose was hoisted in 1906 in Calcutta. This was done as a protest at a rally, protesting the partition of Bengal. Orange, Yellow and Green are the three colours as top, middle and bottom of the flag. The sun and moon were symbols in the bottom and the half bloomed eight lotuses depicted on the top orange colour. In Devanagri ‘Vande Mataram’ was inscribed. Bhikaji Cama came up with another flag in Germany in 1907. The flag had green on top, saffron in the middle and a red bottom width. The flag had 8 lotus on the green width meaning the 8 provinces of the old India. Devanagari inscription of ‘Vande Mataram’ was in the middle. There was a crescent shape in the last band and a sun at the end. This flag was designed by Veer Savarkar, Shyamji Krishna Varma and Bhikaji Cama. The green colour stood for Islam faith whereas saffron was represented by saffron colour. The Berlin committee adopted this flag after the first world war. Later it was represented in the United states by the Ghadar party. In the first world war Mesopotamia included this flag.
In 1916, P Venkayya from Andrhra Pradesh presented his design of the Indian flag to Mahatma Gandhi who suggested that the ‘charkha’ the spinning wheel be incorporated in the national flag. The spinning wheel was a great symbol of the nations independence and hence represented the economy of the old India. Venkayya improvised further with the red and green colour flag with the charkha. As this flag was not featuring all the relgions in India this flag did not gain prominence. The Indian National flag mission was formed by Umar Sobani and SB Bomanji. The Saptarishi constellation was shown in the Union flag owing to the formation of the Home Rule movement which was pioneered by Aniie Besant and Tilak in 1917. This flag somehow did not gain much popularity. The colour was five red and four green horizontal stripes. The upper left carried the Union flag glorifying the Dominion status of the movement. Ireland was then under the control of British hand hence the Irish flag inspired the Indian flag. Mahatma Gandhi’s urge to implicate the communal harmony in India was essential in the new flag. The white colour was on top, green in the middle and red at the last with the charka featuring in all the bands was unfurled in Ahmedabad at the meeting of the congress party. This flag became famous in all the types of freedom movement. As the stage for a perfect design of the national flag was aggressively being undertaken many suggestions came up to shape the final symbol.
The All India Sanskrit Congress in 1924 wanted the saffron colour and the gadha/mace of the Hindu God – Vishnu. The geru or earthy toned colour of the Hindu sadhus and Muslim fakirs was also suggested. The Sikhs came up that yellow be included. In 1931. a seven member committee was developed by the Congress Working committee. The saffron colour dominated by the Indian National Congress rejected this communal dominance depicted in the colour. In 1931 P Venkayya took the initiative to design the tricolour in a courageous saffron, a white for peace and truth and green mentioning faith and prosperity. The charkha surely depicted the economic independence. The flag hoisted in Manipur by the armed struggle propagated by Subash Chandra Bose was used by the army with the words Azad Hind and a tiger instead of the charka.
A flag committee was set up a few days before the Indian independence in 1947.
With increased efforts, the Indian National Congress adopted the National flag of India with a major depiction of communal harmony. The Dharma Chakra was used replacing the Chakra. Thus, the Indian tricolour flag came into full existence.
It is OUR DUTY to hold the National flag high in our minds on a daily basis. By our actions, practicing communal harmony by respecting religions and constantly striving towards a better India all of us can contribute to the glory of our nation. ‘Jhanda uncha rahein hamara’, ‘let our flag fly high’ should be a daily pledge by all Indians.
I’m proud to be an Indian.
How about you ??
