 | |
| Tiraṅgā (meaning "Tricolour") | |
| Use | National flag     |
|---|---|
| Proportion | 2:3 |
| Adopted | 22 July 1947 |
| Design | A horizontal triband of India saffron, white, and India green; charged with a navy blue Ashoka Chakra with 24 spokes in the centre. |
| Designed by | Pingali Venkayya[N 1] |
| Red Ensign | |
 | |
| Use | Civil ensign  |
| Proportion | 2:3 |
| Design | A red ensign with the Indian Flag in the canton |
| Blue Ensign | |
 | |
| Use | State ensign  |
| Proportion | 2:3 |
| Design | A blue ensign with the Indian Flag in the canton, and a yellow anchor horizontally in the fly |
| White Ensign | |
 | |
| Use | Naval ensign  |
| Proportion | 1:2 |
| Design | A white ensign with the Indian Flag in the canton, and a blue octagon with golden borders encasing the national emblem atop an anchor superimposed on a shield with the naval motto "Śaṁ No Varuṇaḥ" in Devanagari in the fly |
| Air force Ensign | |
 | |
| Use | Air force ensign |
| Proportion | 1:2 |
| Design | A sky blue ensign with the Indian Flag in the canton and the Air Force roundel in the fly |
The national flag of India, colloquially called Tiraṅgā (the tricolour), is a horizontal rectangular tricolour flag, the colours being of India saffron, white and India green; with the Ashoka Chakra, a 24-spoke wheel, in navy blue at its centre.[1][2] 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 Union 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 adopted by Mahatma Gandhi after making significant modifications to the design proposed by Pingali Venkayya.[3] This flag included the charkha which was replaced with the chakra in 1947 by Jawaharlal Nehru.[4]
Before the amendment of the flag code in 2021, the flag was by law only 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, which allocates it to regional groups. As of 2023, there are 4 units in India that are licensed to manufacture 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.
Cite error: There are <ref group=N> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=N}} template (see the help page).
- ^ "National Symbols". www.india.gov.in. Archived from the original on 1 May 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
- ^ "National Identity Elements - National Flag". knowindia.india.gov.in. Archived from the original on 15 July 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
- ^ Kapoor, P. (2018). Gandhi: An Illustrated Biography (in Maltese). Roli Books. p. 121. ISBN 978-81-936009-1-7. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
- ^ Goucher, C.; Walton, L. (2013). World History: Journeys from Past to Present. Taylor & Francis. p. 667. ISBN 978-1-135-08828-6.