Evolution of the INDIAN NATIONAL FLAG

When there was struggle to proliferate the essence of righteousness,

When there was a need not only for independence but also for awakening the long obliviated thoughts,

Then we had our great revolutionaries fighting for a nation free of captivity,

For a nation with strength of independency and for a nation whose future would be rooted with the morals of joy and love.

They say that good will always prevail. Yes, it did 69 years ago and still it does.

The day when the symbolism of the nation took place and the very symbol raised high in the sky to celebrate the winds of freedom.

 The symbol seems to be none other than our famous Indian national flag. The evolution of it is quite a story and is interesting. Mahatma Gandhi said, ‘A flag is a necessity for all nations. Millions have died for it. It is no doubt a kind of idolatry which would be a sin to destroy. For, a flag represents an Ideal.’ The national flag is the banner that imparts a nation its own unique identity, proclaims to world of its sovereignty, and announces the principles on which lies the country’s foundation. 

The colors and symbols of the Indian National flag are designed and are thoughtful of deep philosophical meaning. Each color represents a specific part of Indian culture that inculcates a feeling deeply within the hearts of the citizens. The saffron stands for sacrifice and renunciation, the white stands for peace and the green stands for courage and immortality. The Ashok Chakra is a symbolism of Dharma Chakra. It has 24 spokes emerging from the center and represents righteousness, justice and forwardness. The symbolism of wheel depicts that of constant movement that heralds progress and repels stagnation.

Before  the Sepoy Mutiny in 1857, the  nation of India which was divided by different kingdoms and states was represented by the individual flags of the various princely states. after the Sepoy Mutiny, the British established Imperial rule in India and a flag was introduced to represent the British colony of India. The flag was blue, with the Union Jack on the upper left corner, and a star enclosed by a crown on the down right corner. 

The first unofficial flag to be hoisted by the Indians happened on August 7, 1906, in Parsee Bagan, Calcutta. The rectangular flag consisted of three horizontal stripes of green, yellow and red from top to bottom. The uppermost green segment contained 8 lotuses representing 8 provinces, the middle yellow segment had the words Bande Mataram in Sanskrit and the bottom red band had a crescent on the left and a sun on the right hand side. 

A slightly modified version of the previous flag was hoisted in 1907 by Madame Came and her group of exiled revolutionaries in Paris. The uppermost strip had 7 lotuses instead of 8 and it was the first time the color saffron was used in the flag.

In the next decade, several other concepts for the flag were proposed but they did not gain popularity.  In 1921, Gandhi proposed a tricolored flag with the symbol of the spinning wheel at its center. The colors of the flag represented the dominant religions of the Indian subcontinent with clear message of promoting religious harmony. But growing demands for further modification led him to change the interpretations of the colors into something more secular. The lowermost strip of red represented sacrifice, middle green stripe represented hope and the topmost white stripe represented peace. 

The version of the flag closest to the current one came into existence in 1923. It was designed by Pingali Venkayya and had the saffron, white and green stripes with the spinning wheel placed in the white section. It was hoisted on April 13, 1923 in Nagpur during an event commemorating the Jallianwallah Bagh Massacre. It was named the Swaraj Flag and became the symbol of India’s demand for Self-rule led by the Indian National Congress.

The resolution to adopt the tricolor as the National Flag of India was passed in 1931. On July 22, 1947, the Constituent Assembly of India adopted the Swaraj Flag as the National Flag of Sovereign India with the Ashok Chakra replacing the spinning wheel.