10 Interesting things about Indian Flag

“It will be necessary for us Indians- Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jews, Parsis and all others to whom India is their home – to recognize a common flag to live and die for”  – Mahatma Gandhi

A National Flag is a symbol of a free country. Every country has its own flag designed to highlight the country’s unique aspects. Indian National flag symbolizes “Freedom”. The National Flag of India is in Tricolour or Tiranga as we call it with each colour portraying a unique feature that depicts the Nation’s pride.

TIRANGA: the colours in the flag were interpreted by Dr.Sarvepalli Radha Krishnan.

• Deep Saffron (at the top) or Kesari – denotes renunciation, courage, disinterestedness and sacrifice.
• White (middle) – denotes truth peace and purity
• Green (at the bottom) – symbolizes vibrance, prosperity and life.

Ashok Chakra or the wheel – represents the righteousness and progress. The spokes inside the Ashok Chakra represent the 24 hours of a day.

The Designer

The National flag of India was initially designed by Pingali Venkayya and was later adopted during the Constituent Assembly which was held on 22nd July 1947. Most of us are not aware of the piece of information that our flag had deeper modifications till the date it was adopted. Let us see the modifications in detail:

1. The first national flag in India was said to be hoisted on August 7th, 1906 in the Parsee Bagan Square.
2. The second flag was hoisted in Paris by Madame Cama in 1907.
3. The third flag went on air during the Home Rule Movement by Lokamanya Tilak and Dr. Annie Besant.
4. Later on our flag was hoisted at the All India Congress in 1921 at Bejawada.
5. In 1931 the flag was adopted as our National flag after the resolution was passed adding the spinning wheel of Gandhi.
6. It was on 22 July 1947, the constituent Assembly adopted the tricoloured flag as a Free Indian flag by replacing the spinning wheel with the Dharma Chakra of Emperor Asoka.

Flag Code

The code of our National Flag was changed on 26th January 2002 after several years. The Flag code was divided into 3 parts.

Part I contains the general description of the flag.

Part II is devoted to the display of the National flag by various public or private organizations.

Part III is devoted to the display of the National flag by state and central governments and their agencies.

10 things to know about our National Flag

• By law, our flag is to be made of Khadi. The Ashoka Chakra was taken from the Lion capital of Ashoka which is a sculpture of “four lions”. 
• Diameter of the Chakra is approximately the width of the white band at the bottom of the flag. Wheel is navy blue and indicated Dharma
• In the entire nation, there is only unit which is provided with license to produce and supply Indian flags located at Karnataka – Karnataka Khadi Gramodyoga Samyuktha Sanga at Hubli.
• Government of Maharashtra hoists the largest flag measuring 21×14 ft on top of the Mantralaya building, the state’s headquarters.
• The designing of our National flag should exactly contain 150 threads per square centimetre which includes 4 threads per stitch. Also, each square foot of the flag should exactly weigh 205 grams. After weaving, the flag undergoes several tests for perfection in the laboratories and once passing those tests they are sent back to the production unit for dyeing the respective colours. Else they are discarded.
• Indians purchase around forty million flags every year.
• The Indian Tiranga was hoisted on Mount. Everest, the highest peak in the world on May 29 1953, along with the Union jack and the Nepalese national flag.
• Bhikhaji Rustom Cama was the first Indian to fly the Indian flag on a foreign land, at Paris.
• Through Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, Indian flag went on-air into the space in 1971 on Apollo-15. Tricoloured flag of our nation was printed on the space suit and worn by this cosmonaut during Indo-Soviet Joint space flight.
• On Indian territories, Indian flag flown along with other national flags should be the starting point of all flags. Also, when the flag is displayed in any of the indoor meetings or public gatherings, it should be placed towards the observer’s left, as this is the position of authority. Furthermore, when a foreign dignitary travels in a car provided by the Indian government then the Indian flag should be towards the right and the respected dignitary country’s flag should be towards the left.

After, repeated changes in the rules of hoisting the Indian flag, January 15 2002; it was declared that the citizens of this nation are allowed to fly the flag throughout the year(earlier, it was allowed only on the special days like Republic day or Independence day etc.) as it was part of the fundamental rights to freedom of expression.

“Indian Tiranga- our National Flag is not only the flag of freedom for ourselves, but a symbol of freedom for all people” – Jawaharlal Nehru