The national flag of India (Hindi: Tiraṅgā) is a horizontal rectangular tricolour of India saffron, white and India green; with the Ashoka Chakra, a 24-spoke wheel, in navy blue at its centre. It was adopted in its present form during a meeting of the Constituent Assembly held on 22 July 1947, and it became the official flag of the Dominion of India on 15 August 1947. The flag was subsequently retained as that of the Republic of India. In India, the term "tricolour" almost always refers to the Indian national flag. The flag is based on the Swaraj flag, a flag of the Indian National Congress designed by Pingali Venkayya.
By law, the flag is to be made of khadi, a special type of hand-spun cloth or silk, made popular by Mahatma Gandhi. The manufacturing process and specifications for the flag are laid out by the Bureau of Indian Standards. The right to manufacture the flag is held by the Khadi Development and Village Industries Commission, who allocates it to regional groups. As of 2009, the Karnataka Khadi Gramodyoga Samyukta Sangha has been the sole manufacturer of the flag.
Usage of the flag is governed by the Flag Code of India and other laws relating to the national emblems. The original code prohibited use of the flag by private citizens except on national days such as the Independence day and the Republic Day. In 2002, on hearing an appeal from a private citizen, Naveen Jindal, the Supreme Court of India directed the Government of India to amend the code to allow flag usage by private citizens. Subsequently, the Union Cabinet of India amended the code to allow limited usage. The code was amended once more in 2005 to allow some additional use including adaptations on certain forms of clothing. The flag code also governs the protocol of flying the flag and its use in conjunction with other national and non-national flags.
Gandhi first proposed a flag to the Indian National Congress in 1921. The flag was designed by Pingali Venkayya. In the centre was a traditional spinning wheel, symbolising Gandhi's goal of making Indians self-reliant by fabricating their own clothing, between a red stripe for Hindus and a green stripe for Muslims. The design was then modified to replace red with saffron and to include a white stripe in the centre for other religious communities (as well to symbolise peace between the communities), and provide a background for the spinning wheel. However, to avoid sectarian associations with the colour scheme, the three bands were later reassigned new meanings: courage and sacrifice, peace and truth, and faith and chivalry respectively.
A few days before India became independent on 15 August 1947, the specially constituted Constituent Assembly decided that the flag of India must be acceptable to all parties and communities. A modified version of the Swaraj flag was chosen; the tricolour remained the same saffron, white and green. However, the charkha was replaced by the Ashoka Chakra representing the eternal wheel of law. The philosopher Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, who later became India's first Vice President and second President, clarified the adopted flag and described its significance as follows:
| Flag size[1][2] | Width and height (mm) | Diameter of Ashoka Chakra (mm)[3] |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6300 × 4200 | 1295 |
| 2 | 3600 × 2400 | 740 |
| 3 | 2700 × 1800 | 555 |
| 4 | 1800 × 1200 | 370 |
| 5 | 1350 × 900 | 280 |
| 6 | 900 × 600 | 185 |
| 7 | 450 × 300 | 90[4] |
| 8 | 225 × 150 | 40 |
| 9 | 150 × 100 | 25 |
Materials 3.1.2.2: Colours Colour X Y Z Brightness, Persent India saffron (Kesari) 0.538 0.360 0.102 21.5 White 0.313 0.319 0.368 72.6 India green 0.288 0.395 0.317 8.9
- We must respect the flag above all.
- The flag should be of the given standard size.
- Whenever the National flag is flown, it should occupy the position of honour and be distinctly placed.
- Where the practice is to fly the National flag on any public building, it shall be flown on that building on all days, including Sundays and holidays. It shall be flown from sunrise to sunset irrespective of weather conditions. The flag may be flown on such a building at night also, but this should be only on very special occasions.
- The National flag shall always be hoisted briskly and lowered slowly and ceremoniously. When the hoisting and the lowering of the flag is accompanied by appropriate bugle calls, the hoisting and lowering should be simultaneous with the bugle calls.
- When a National flag is displayed from a staff projecting horizontally or at an angle from a windowsill, balcony or front of a building, the saffron band shall be at the farther end of the staff.
- When the National flag is displayed flat and horizontal on a wall, the saffron band shall be uppermost and when displayed vertically, the saffron band shall be to the right with reference to the flag, i.e. it may be to the right of a person facing it.
- When displayed over the middle of a street, running east-west or north-south, the National flag shall be suspended vertically with the saffron to the north, or to the east as the case may be.
- When the National flag is displayed on a speaker’s platform, it shall be flown on a staff on the speaker’s right as he faces the audience or flat against the wall above and behind the speaker.
- When used on occasions like the unveiling of a statue, the National flag shall be displayed distinctly and separately.
- When a National flag is displayed alone on a motorcar, it shall be flown from a staff that should be affixed firmly to the car in the middle front of the bonnet.
- When a National flag is carried in a procession or a parade, it shall be either on the marching right, that is the flag’s own right, or if there is a line of other flags, in front of the centre of the line.
- Don’ts
- A damaged or disheveled National flag must not be displayed.
- The flag must not be dipped in salute to any person or thing.
- No other flag or bunting shall be placed higher than or above or side by side with the National flag; nor shall any object, including flowers or garlands or emblem be placed on or above the flag mast from which the National flag is flown.
- The National flag must not be used as a festoon, rosette or bunting or in any other manner for decoration; nor shall other coloured pieces of cloth be so arranged as to give the appearance of the National flag.
- The National flag must not be used to cover a speaker’s desk nor should it be draped over a speaker’s platform.
- The National flag must not be displayed with the saffron down.
- It should not be allowed to touch the ground or the floor or trail in water.
- It should not be displayed or fastened in any manner as it may damage it.
- The National flag must not be misused in any manner.
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