31 Facts About The Indian Flag With Symbolic Representation Explained

The Indian National Flag was designed by Pingali Venkayya, a freedom fighter who was born on August 2, 1876, in Machilipatnam village in Andhra Pradesh.

In 1921, Gandhi offered the Indian National Congress an Indian flag. The first Indian flag was designed by Pingali Venkayya. A traditional spinning wheel stood in the center, symbolizing Gandhi's objective of making Indians self-sufficient by allowing them to make their own clothing, with a red stripe for Hindus a green stripe for Muslims.

The woven khadi, a hand-spun cloth, for the national flag of India comes from two handloom operations in northern Karnataka's Dharwad and Bagalkot regions. The Khadi Development and Village Industries Commission authorizes the establishment of flag manufacturing facilities in India.

In contrast, the Bureau of Indian Standards has the authority to cancel permits for units that do not meet the requirements. Bhikaji Rustom Cama unfurled the first version of the Indian flag.

Freedom fighter Pingali Venkayya's Swaraj flag with the spinning wheel was unfurled during a march in Nagpur by local Congress volunteers commemorating the Jallianwala Bagh massacre on April 13, 1923. The flag is based on Pingali Venkayya's Swaraj flag, developed for the Indian National Congress.

The flag should not be burned in the pyre or lowered into the grave. The Ashoka Chakra is one of the religious symbols. Ashoka Chakra represents a traditional spinning wheel where all three horizontal stripes are equally sized.

After reading about the history of the official flag of India in its present form along with the meaning of the colors in the national flag of India, also check out facts about Scotland flag and facts about the Mexican flag.

Indian Flag: History

The Indian National Flag was designed by Pingali Venkayya, who was born August 2, 1876, in Machilipatnam village in Andhra Pradesh, and was a freedom fighter.

• The current flag of India has a dimensional ratio of 2:3 and was adopted on July 22, 1947.
• During the freedom protests, British officers banned an Indian Flag as it was a symbol of courage and sacrifice, truth, peace, and purity.
• The protestors used a tricolor Swaraj flag with a Charkha or a spinning wheel displayed at the center to counter this ban.
• On January 26, 2002, rules, laws, and practices were formed as The Flag Code of India. This flag code controls the governing of the portrayal of the National Flag.
• The flag code has three divisions which state: a first division is the flag description, a second division is the rules for flag display by private, educational, and public organizations as well as a third division that includes rules for flag display by the state, central agencies, and the government.
• The flag code states that it is never at half-mast except for when in mourning, and it should never be in a half-mast condition either on Independence Day or Republic Day. Paramilitary forces or dignitaries' bier or coffin is honored with the National Flag.
• However, the flag code also dictates that it is neither burnt in the pyre nor buried with the coffin. The national flag was officially adopted in its present form by the Constituent Assembly on July 22, 1947.

Indian Flag: Colors And Meanings

The Indian National Flag has three horizontal stripes displayed at equal proportions and has a chakra at the center of the middle strip. The three colors are Saffron, White, and Green. The meaning of these colors are:

• The topmost color in the flag is saffron color, which symbolizes the sacrifices made by the freedom fighters in gaining the country's independence. It stands for the strength of the nation and the courageous history of India.
• The white stripe in the middle represents purity, peace, honesty, truth, and harmony.
• The bottom stripe is green, representing the fertility and value of the land that supports this nation.
• It also symbolizes the nation's growth, faith, development, and prosperity.

Indian Flag: Ashok Chakra Meaning

Indian National Flag has a navy blue Ashoka Chakra/Wheel symbol in the middle white stripe.

• With 24 spokes on the national flag of India, the Ashok Chakra represents the 'wheel of the law,' which is meant to depict that when in movement, life flows, but stagnation leads to death.
• This wheel was adopted from the Sarnath Lion Capital and many other edicts by the Great King Ashoka, the 3rd c. BC Mauryan Emperor. This is why it's popularly called the Ashoka Chakra.
• The chakra was adopted in the flag on July 22, 1947.
• Each of the 24 spokes present in the Ashok Chakra represents the 24 hours of the day and is thus also known as the 'Wheel of Time.'

How many times has the Indian flag changed?

The first-ever Indian National Flag was designed by Sister Nivedita, Swami Vivekananda's Irish disciple, in 1904. It was red and yellow with the slogan 'Bonde Matoram' and a white lotus with Lord Indra's weapon.

• The first flag of India to be hoisted was a tricolor strip of green with eight white lotuses, yellow with the slogan 'Vandemataram' and red with a sun and a moon. On August 7, 1906, it was hoisted in Parsee Bagan Square, Kolkata.
• The second flag had an orange with Saptarishi represented by seven stars, yellow and green, hoisted in 1907 by Madame Cama in Paris.
• The third flag had four green and five red alternate horizontal stripes and Union Jack/British Flag on top-left, crescent moon with a star on top-right, and saptarishi seven-star configuration. It was hoisted in 1917 by Lokmanya Tilak and Dr. Annie Besant.
• A two-color flag of red symbolizing Hindus and green representing Muslims was adopted in the 1921 Congress Committee session.
• The tricolor flag adopted in 1931 had saffron, white, and green with a charkha in the center.
• In 1947, the final flag was selected with deep saffron, white, and green, with Ashoka Chakra in the center representing Dharma.
• The President, Vice President, or Prime Minister, Governors and Lieutenant Governors of states, Chief Ministers, Union Ministers, members of the Parliament of India and state legislatures of Indian states, judges of the Supreme Court of India and High Courts, and flag officers of the Army, Navy, and Air Force have the privilege of flying the national flag of India on vehicles.
• The flag shall be flown on the airplane carrying the President, Vice President, or Prime Minister on a foreign visit.
• When the President, Vice President, or Prime Minister dies, the flag is lowered to half-mast across the country.
• It is flown at half-mast in New Delhi and the state of origin for the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and Union Ministers.
• The flag is flown at half-mast in the states and union territories when governors, lieutenant governors, and chief ministers die.
• The white color represents truth, peace, and purity and is hosted on Republic day and Independence day. The flag denotes prosperity for different religious communities.
• The British Indian administration became more aware of the new flag and formulated a response strategy.
• The British parliament debated public usage of the flag. The British Indian government threatened to withhold payments from municipalities and local governments that did not prohibit the use of the Swaraj flag, based on London's directions.
• Saffron color represents courage and sacrifice. It was hosted first on Indian independence day after British rule.
• The fabric used for making the National Flag of India is handwoven and hand-spun and is prepared only from hand-spun cloth.

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