History and Evolution of Indian National Flag

Mahatma Gandhi had once stressed why India should have its own flag and had said, “A flag is a necessity for all nations. Millions have died for it. It is no doubt a kind of idolatry which would be a sin to destroy. It will be necessary for us Indian Muslims, Christian Jews, Parsis and all others to whom India is their home to recognize a common flag to live and to die for." It is really amazing to see the various changes that our National Flag went through since its first inception. It was discovered or recognized during our national struggle for freedom. The evolution of the Indian National Flag sailed through many vicissitudes to arrive at what it is today. In one way it reflects the political developments in the nation. Some of the historical milestones in the evolution of our National Flag involve the following- The idea of a single Indian flag was first raised by the British rulers of India after the rebellion of 1857, which resulted in the establishment of direct imperial rule. The first flag, whose design was based on western heraldic standards, were similar to the flags of other British colonies, including Canada and South Africa; its red field included the Union Jack in the upper-left quadrant and a Star of India capped by the royal crown in the middle of the right half. The partition of Bengal (1905) resulted in the introduction of a new flag representing the Indian independence movement that sought to unite the multitude of castes and races within the country. The Vande Mataram flag, part of the nationalist Swadeshi movement, comprised Indian religious symbols represented in western heraldic fashion. The tricolour flag included eight white lotuses on the upper green band representing the eight provinces, a sun and a crescent on the bottom red band, and the Vande Mataram slogan in Hindi on the central yellow band. The flag had been hoisted on August 7, 1906 in Parsee Bagan Square (Green Park) in Calcutta and the launch was only briefly covered by newspapers. The flag was not covered in contemporary governmental or political reports either, but was used at the annual session of the Indian National Congress. Despite the multiple uses of the flag, it failed to generate enthusiasm amongst Indian nationalists. Around the same time, another proposal for the flag was initiated by Sister Nivedita, a Hindu reformist and disciple of Swami Vivekananda. The flag consisted of a thunderbolt in the centre and a hundred and eight oil lamps for the border, with the Vande Mataram caption split around the thunderbolt. It was also presented at the Indian National Congress meeting in 1906. Soon, many other proposals were initiated, but none of them gained attention from the nationalist movement. A slightly modified version of The Vande Mataram flag was subsequently used by Madam Bhikaji Cama at the second International Socialist Congress in Stuttgart, Paris in 1907. This flag was very similar to the Vande Mataram flag except that the top strip had only one lotus but the seven stars denoting the Saptarishi and has Green strip on bottom instead of Red. This flag was also exhibited at a socialist conference in Berlin. Partha Pratim Haloi Ist Sem