Feb 07, 2022 Evolution of Our National Flag..

This article is contributed by Mr. Sugato Roy..

Evolution of Our National Flag..

——“ You require a billion hues to make this wonderful tricolour “. Thus ran the description in media recently and that’s a brilliant copy. The Indian tricolour represents the ideals of our beloved country, the sacrifices of thousands of our freedom fighters and the emotions of the Indian diaspora wherever they are.  The dynamism and valour,  the flag generates are profound. The tricolour is the hallmark of pride for us all whether in any sports stadium of the world or any international forum, or the frontiers or on top of the snow-clad peaks of the Himalayas.

Let us have a look into the history of our flag down the ages.

• The idea of a single flag was first mooted by the British way back after the Sepoy Mutiny in 1857. The idea was to have an ensign for the entire country. The design was based on the western heraldic standards with the Union Jack in the upper left-hand slot. The Star Of India enclosed by the Royal Crown was depicted in the middle of the right half of the flag.
•  Sister Nibedita designed a flag during  1904 – 6. The background of the flag was bright red with yellow ornated borders. In the middle of the flag was an image of Vajra, the weapon of Indra, the King of Gods with Vande Mataram written in Bengali. Both the illustration of Vajra and the slogan were in yellow. The red and yellow colours implied freedom and victory while the Vajra stood for strength.
• In 1906, another flag was conceptualised and implemented with the colour scheme of tricolour ideated for the first time. There were three equal bands of navy blue, yellow and red from top to bottom. Eight stars in three different designs were on the blue band, on the yellow band Vande Mataram was written in Hindi and there were images of a rising sun on the left side and a crescent moon with a star on the right side of the red band.
• August 7^th 1906 remains an important date in the history of our flag. On this day at an anti Partition rally in Parsee  Bagan, Calcutta,  another tricolour was hoisted. There were three bands green, yellow and red in that order from the top. The green band had eight lotus impressions on it, Vande Mataram was inscribed on the yellow band and the red band had on the left a crescent moon and on the right, sun. Many historians regard this as the first unofficial flag of India.
• On 22^nd August 1907, the Berlin Committee flag was unfurled in Stuttgart, Germany by Madam Bhikaiji Cama, and for the first time, an unofficial Indian flag was hoisted on foreign soil. The flag was a tricolour starting with orange, yellow and green respectively. The orange band had eight lotuses, Vande Mataram was inscribed on the yellow band and the symbols of the sun, crescent moon and star on the green band at the bottom.
• In 1917, Lokmanya Tilak and Dr Annie Besant designed the Home Rule flag which had 5 red and 4 green horizontal stripes arranged alternatively. The Union Jack was on the top left-hand corner and seven stars signifying Sapatarishi were placed over in the ground.
• The national tricolour with the present colour scheme of saffron [ Pantone shade 130U], white, green [ Pantone shade 2258C ] and navy blue chakra [ Pantone shade 2735C ] was formally adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 22^nd July 1947. The design is based on the Swaraj Flag of the Indian National Congress designed in 1931 by Pingali Venkayya. Saffron signifies renunciation from material gains, white stands for the path of truth and green denotes mother earth and plant life. The 24 spoke  Ashoka Chakra in the middle is the wheel of law.
• The Bureau Of Indian Standards has laid down explicit specifications that have to be followed while making the national tricolour. The dimension of the flag has to be in the ratio of 2:3. Even the colour shades have to be scrupulously followed with colour codes and the percentage of colour combinations in CMYK and RGB  specified.

SUGATO ROY

GRADUATE FROM ST XAVIER’S COLLEGE AND POST GRADUATE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF CALCUTTA, SPECIALISING IN MARKETING MANAGEMENT AND ADVERTISING MANAGEMENT.  PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE OF 24 YEARS IN VARIOUS CAPACITIES IN ADVERTISING AND PUBLISHING INDUSTRY.  HAS BEEN AWARDED FOR  LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT IN ADVERTISING AND PUBLICITY MANAGEMENT. 

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