The use, display and hoisting of the National Flag in the country is guided by an overarching set of instructions called the ‘Flag Code of India 2002’. It brings together all laws, conventions, practices, and instructions for the display of the National Flag. It governs the display of the National Flag by private, public, and government institutions.
The Flag Code of India took effect on January 26, 2002. As per Clause 2.1 of the Flag Code of India, there shall be no restriction on the display of the National Flag by members of the general public, private organizations, educational institutions etc. consistent with the dignity and honour of the National Flag.
What led to the recent amendment?
The Flag Code of India, 2002 was amended vide Order dated December 30, 2021, and National Flag made of polyester or machine made flag have also been allowed. Now, the National Flag shall be made of hand-spun, hand-woven or machine-made cotton/polyester/wool/silk/khadi bunting, as per the amended flag code. The government will soon launch ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’– a nationwide campaign to encourage people to hoist the Tricolour at their homes to mark the 75th Independence Day. According to officials in the Ministry of Culture, the plan is to reach out to more than 20 crore homes across the country by August 15, the 75th Independence Day.
The amended flag code will facilitate the availability of flags on such a large scale and also make them affordable for the general public. Officials in the Ministry of Culture say the flags are now available for as low as Rs 30 on online portals. Once the flag code was amended, the government reached out to manufacturers and e-commerce sites to boost its availability. The Ministry has also held meetings with e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Flipkart to make sure these sites would be a platform to buy flags.
Why is it being criticised?
The amendment has been welcomed by many, including industrialist and former Congress MP Naveen Jindal, whose petition in 1995 had led to the Delhi High Court allowing hoisting of the national flag by individuals at their private premises. The amendment to the flag code has, however, been questioned by those who feel the move will break the association between the Tricolour, the Independence movement and khadi.
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said: “By allowing the import of Tricolour made of polyester, an arrangement has been made for ‘China-made Tricolour in every home’ — the very China that is encroaching on our land.” Party spokesperson Ajoy Kumar added, “They (BJP government) have been vending government properties, and now they are aiming at selling the national flag as the country’s treasury is waning.”
What do khadi weavers have to say?
A section of Khadi weavers and activists have launched an agitation to protest the amendment. A nationwide protest has been called by the Karnataka Khadi Gramudyog Samyukta Sangha (KKGSS) — a unit that spins the fabric used to make the National Flag, which has now paused operations in the wake of the move.
KKGSS, which claims to be the only BIS approved khadi unit for the material used to make the Tricolour, say they used to get orders worth Rs 3-4 crore every year in the run up to the Independence Day, but this year, in the wake of the amendment, the demand has been abysmal.
The unit became unique as a manufacturing centre for the National Flag in 2006, when it was accredited with ISI certification and an authorisation to sell the National Flag throughout the country. The Khadi and Village Industries Commission certified KKGSS as the sole manufacturer and supplier of the Tricolour to the entire country. They have already written to the Prime Minister regarding the amendment.
How did India get its national flag?
On July 22, 1947, when members of the Constituent Assembly of India met in the Constitution Hall in Delhi, the first item on the agenda was reportedly a motion by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, about adopting a national flag for free India.
It was proposed that “the National Flag of India shall be horizontal tricolour of deep saffron (kesari), white and dark green in equal proportion.” The white band was to have a wheel in navy blue (the charkha being replaced by the chakra), which appears on the abacus of the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka.
While the finer nuances were subsequently discussed in the meeting, the final design of the Indian National Flag, hoisted by Prime Minister Nehru on August 16, 1947 at Red Fort, had a history of several decades preceding independence.
The first national flag of India
While an Indian flag was reportedly designed by Sister Nivedita, an Irish disciple of Swami Vivekananda, between 1904-1906, arguably the first national flag of India is said to have been hoisted on August 7, 1906, in Kolkata at the Parsee Bagan Square (Green Park).
It comprised three horizontal strips of red, yellow and green, with Vande Mataram written in the middle. Believed to have been designed by freedom activists Sachindra Prasad Bose and Hemchandra Kanungo, the red strip on the flag had symbols of the sun and a crescent moon, and the green strip had eight half-open lotuses. Next year, in 1907, Madame Cama and her group of exiled revolutionaries hoisted an Indian flag in Germany in 1907 — this was the first Indian flag to be hoisted in a foreign land.
In 1917, Dr Annie Besant and Lokmanya Tilak adopted a new flag as part of the Home Rule Movement. It had five alternate red and four green horizontal stripes, and seven stars in the saptarishi configuration. A white crescent and star occupied one top corner, and the other had Union Jack.
A Flag for Independent India
The Tricolour was altered to become the flag of Independent India. Saffron on top symbolises “strength and courage”, white in the middle represents “peace and truth” and green at the bottom stands for “fertility, growth and auspiciousness of the land”. The Ashok Chakra with 24 spokes replaced the spinning wheel as the emblem on the flag. It is intended “to show that there is life in movement and death in stagnation”.
Written by Divya A
Source: Indian Express, 14/07/22
