Facing the Flag [with Biographical Introduction]

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In the early s, national flag discussions gained prominence across most British dominions following the peace treaty between Britain and Ireland. In November , the Indian delegation to the League of Nations wanted to use an Indian flag, and this prompted the British Indian government to place renewed emphasis on the flag as a national symbol.

In April , Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi wrote in his journal Young India about the need for an Indian flag, proposing a flag with the charkha or spinning wheel at the centre. Gandhi wanted the flag to be presented at the Congress session of , but it was not delivered on time, and another flag was proposed at the session. Gandhi later wrote that the delay was fortuitous since it allowed him to realise that other religions were not represented; he then added white to the banner colours, to represent all the other religions.

Finally, owing to the religious-political sensibilities, in , Gandhi moved towards a more secular interpretation of the flag colours, stating that red stood for the sacrifices of the people, white for purity, and green for hope. On 13 April , during a procession by local Congress volunteers in Nagpur commemorating the Jallianwala Bagh massacre , the Swaraj flag with the spinning wheel, designed by Pingali Venkayya, was hoisted.

This event resulted in a confrontation between the Congressmen and the police, after which five people were imprisoned. Over a hundred other protesters continued the flag procession after a meeting. Subsequently, on the first of May, Jamnalal Bajaj , the secretary of the Nagpur Congress Committee, started the Flag Satyagraha , gaining national attention and marking a significant point in the flag movement.

The satyagraha , promoted nationally by the Congress, started creating cracks within the organisation in which the Gandhians were highly enthused while the other group, the Swarajists , called it inconsequential. The flag movement was managed by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel with the idea of public processions and flag displays by common people.

By the end of the movement, over people had been arrested across all of British India. The Bombay Chronicle reported that the movement drew from diverse groups of society including farmers, students, merchants, labourers and "national servants". While Muslim participation was moderate, the movement enthused women, who had hitherto rarely participated in the independence movement. While the flag agitation got its impetus from Gandhi's writings and discourses, the movement received political acceptance following the Nagpur incident.

News reports, editorials and letters to editors published in various journals and newspapers of the time attest to the subsequent development of a bond between the flag and the nation. Soon, the concept of preserving the honour of the national flag became an integral component of the independence struggle. While Muslims were still wary of the Swaraj flag, it gained acceptance among Muslim leaders of the Congress and the Khilafat Movement as the national flag.

Detractors of the flag movement, including Motilal Nehru , soon hailed the Swaraj flag as a symbol of national unity. Thus, the flag became a significant structural component of the institution of India.

In contrast to the subdued responses of the past, the British Indian government took greater cognisance of the new flag, and began to define a policy of response. The British parliament discussed public use of the flag, and based on directives from England, the British Indian government threatened to withdraw funds from municipalities and local governments that did not prevent the display of the Swaraj flag. However, by then, the flag had already become the symbol of the independence movement.

A few days before India gained its independence in August , the Constituent Assembly was formed. Ambedkar as its members. On 14 July , the committee recommended that the flag of the Indian National Congress be adopted as the National Flag of India with suitable modifications, so as to make it acceptable to all parties and communities. It was also resolved that the flag should not have any communal undertones. According to Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan , the chakra was chosen as it was representative of dharma and law.

However, Jawaharlal Nehru explained that the change was more practical in nature, as unlike the flag with the spinning wheel, this design would appear symmetrical. Gandhi was not very pleased by the change, but eventually came around to accepting it. The flag was proposed by Nehru at the Constituent Assembly on 22 July as a horizontal tricolour of deep saffron, white and dark green in equal proportions, with the Ashoka wheel in blue in the centre of the white band. Nehru also presented two flags, one in Khadi-silk and the other in Khadi-cotton, to the assembly.

The resolution was approved unanimously. The design and manufacturing process for the national flag is regulated by three documents issued by the Bureau of Indian Standards BIS. All of the flags are made out of khadi cloth of silk or cotton. The standards were created in and were updated in In , after India became a republic, the Indian Standards Institute now the BIS brought out the first official specifications for the flag.

These were revised in to conform to the metric system which was adopted in India. The specifications were further amended on 17 August The guidelines are covered under civil and criminal laws and defects in the manufacturing process can result in punishments that include fines or jail terms. Khadi or hand-spun cloth is the only material allowed to be used for the flag, and flying a flag made of any other material is punishable by law with imprisonment up to three years, besides a fine. Raw materials for khadi are restricted to cotton, silk and wool. There are two kinds of khadi used: The first is the khadi-bunting which makes up the body of the flag, and the second is the khadi-duck, which is a beige-coloured cloth that holds the flag to the pole.

The khadi-duck is an unconventional type of weave that meshes three threads into a weave, compared to the two threads used in conventional weaving. This type of weaving is extremely rare, and there are fewer than twenty weavers in India professing this skill. The guidelines also state that there should be exactly threads per square centimetre, four threads per stitch, and one square foot should weigh exactly grams 7.

There are four places in the country licensed to make the cloth for the national flag, they are in Karnataka , Marathwada , Barabanki in UP, and Banetha in Rajasthan. A Centre was established at Garag in by a few freedom fighters under the banner of Dharwad Taluk Kshetriya Seva Sangh and obtained the Centre's licence to make flags.

Once woven, the material is sent to the BIS laboratories for testing. After quality testing, the material, if approved, is returned to the factory. It is then separated into three lots which are dyed saffron, white and green. The Ashoka Chakra is screen printed, stencilled or suitably embroidered onto each side of the white cloth.

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Care also has to be taken that the chakra is completely visible and synchronised on both sides. Three pieces of the required dimension, one of each colour, are then stitched together according to specifications and the final product is ironed and packed. The BIS then checks the colours and only then can the flag be sold. Official regulation states that the flag must never touch the ground or water, or be used as a drapery in any form. No sort of lettering may be inscribed on the flag.

When out in the open, the flag should always be flown between sunrise and sunset, irrespective of the weather conditions. Prior to , the flag could be flown on a public building at night under special circumstances; currently, Indian citizens can fly the flag even at night, subject to the restriction that the flag should be hoisted on a tall flagpole and be well-illuminated.

The flag should never be depicted, displayed or flown upside down.

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Tradition also states that when draped vertically, the flag should not merely be rotated 90degrees, but also reversed. One "reads" a flag like the pages of a book, from top to bottom and from left to right, and after rotation the results should be the same. It is considered insulting to display the flag in a frayed or dirty state, and the same rule applies to the flagpoles and halyards used to hoist the flag, which should always be in a proper state of maintenance. The original flag code of India did not allow private citizens to fly the national flag except on national days such as Independence Day or Republic Day.

In , Naveen Jindal , an industrialist used to the more egalitarian use of the flag in the United States where he studied, flew the Indian flag on his office building. The flag was confiscated and he was warned of prosecution. Jindal filed a public interest litigation petition in the High Court of Delhi ; he sought to strike down the restriction on the use of the flag by private citizens, arguing that hoisting the national flag with due decorum and honour was his right as a citizen, and a way of expressing his love for the country.

At the end of the appeals process, the case was heard by the Supreme Court of India ; the court ruled in Jindal's favour, asking the Government of India to consider the matter.

The Union Cabinet of India then amended the Indian Flag Code with effect from 26 January , allowing private citizens to hoist the flag on any day of the year, subject to their safeguarding the dignity, honour and respect of the flag. The original flag code also forbade use of the flag on uniforms, costumes and other clothing. In July , the Government of India amended the code to allow some forms of usage.

The amended code forbids usage in clothing below the waist and on undergarments, and forbids embroidering onto pillowcases, handkerchiefs or other dress material. Disposal of damaged flags is also covered by the flag code. Damaged or soiled flags may not be cast aside or disrespectfully destroyed; they have to be destroyed as a whole in private, preferably by burning or by any other method consistent with the dignity of the flag. The rules regarding the correct methods to display the flag state that when two flags are fully spread out horizontally on a wall behind a podium, their hoists should be towards each other with the saffron stripes uppermost.

If the flag is displayed on a short flagpole, this should be mounted at an angle to the wall with the flag draped tastefully from it. If two national flags are displayed on crossed staffs, the hoists must be towards each other and the flags must be fully spread out. Read More on This Topic.

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