Indian National Flag: Interesting facts students should know about the Tricolour

Indian National Flag: Ahead of the 75th Independence day, here are some interesting facts about the national flag with rare pics.

On August 15, 2022 India will celebrate its 76th Independence Day. To mark 75 years of Independence from British rule, the Government of India is organising Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, celebrations for which started in March, 2021. On August 2, the Har Ghar Tiranga campain was launched as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged people to hoist the national flag at their homes as part of this initiative. He also asked them to put the national flag as profile picture of their social media accounts between August 2 and 15.

Interesting facts about the Indian national flag(Pratham Gokhale/HT PHOTO)

As we celebrate 75 years of independence, here are some interesting facts about the Indian national flag, also referred to as the Tricolour:

• The national flag of India is a horizontal rectangular flag of India saffron, white and India green colours with the Ashoka Chakra, a 24-spoke wheel, in navy blue at its centre.
• The first Indian flag was hoisted on August 7, 1906 at Parsi Bagan Square in Calcutta. It showed religious symbols and had flowers with Vande Matram inscribed on it. It had three stripes of green (top), yellow (middle) and red (bottom) colors.

A representation of the first national flag. The original version had 8 flowers(FOTW Flags Of The World website at http://flagspot.net/flags/)

• The second version of the Indian flag with partial modifications was hoisted by Madam Bhikaji Cama at the second Socialist International summit in Stuttgart, Germany. Notably, Madam Cama is the first person to unfurl Indian National Flag on foreign soil.
• Another version of the flag was hoisted in 1917 by Bal Gangadhar Tilak. It had two stripes, of red and green and the Union Jack – flag of the United Kingdom – on top left and a crescent on top right. It also had seven terms to represent the Saptrishi constellation.

A version of the National flag hoisted in 1917 by Bal Gangadhar Tilak (for representation)(FOTW Flags Of The World website at http://flagspot.net/flags/)

• In 1921, a 4th kind of flag was used. The new flag had white, green and red stripes, with white representing representing religious minorities, green representing Muslims and Red representing Hindus. There was a Spinning Wheel in the middle. This flag was as per the vision of Mahatma Gandhi.

Photo credit: FOTW Flags Of The World website at http://flagspot.net/flags/

• A fifth version of the flag was developed in 1921 which was adopted by the Congress committee. This flag had saffron color at the top, white in the middle, and green color at the bottom with a Spinning Wheel in the middle.

For representation, photo credit: FOTW Flags Of The World website at http://flagspot.net/flags/

• The Indian National Flag which is in use now was designed by Pingali Venkayya, an educationist and freedom fighter from Andhra Pradesh. On August 15, 1947, the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, hoisted the national flag at Lahori Gate of Red Fort in Delhi.

The first national flag unfurled by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

• The present national flag has three colours – saffron representing courage and sacrifice, white representing peace and green representing prosperity. The Ashok Chakra in the middle represents the cycle of life. The length to width ratio of the flag has to be 3:2.
• Flag code: Indian national flag must be hoisted in the day time only and there should be no flag or any other symbolic representation above it. The flag must be hoisted in horizontal direction with the saffron colour always on the top.