idea to include
Charkha
was to make
Indians self reliant
The charkha (etymologically related to Chakra) was both a tool and a symbol of the Indian independence movement. The charkha, a small, portable, hand-cranked wheel, is ideal for spinning cotton and other fine, short-staple fibers, though it can be used to spin other fibers as well. The size varies, from that of a hardbound novel to the size of a briefcase, to a floor charkha. Mahatma Gandhi brought the charkha into larger use with his teachings. He hoped the charkha would assist the peoples of India achieve self-sufficiency and independence, and so used the charkha as a symbol of the Indian independence movement and included it on earlier versions of the Flag of India.
History of Indian Flag (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_India)
India was
under British rule
in the 19th century. A number of flags with varying designs were used in the
period preceding the Indian
Independence Movement by the rulers of different princely states;
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 Australia; the blue banner
included the Union Flag
in the upper-left quadrant and a Star of India capped by the royal crown in the
middle of the right half. To address the question of how the star conveyed
"Indianness",Queen Victoria
created the Knight Commander
of the Order of the Star of India to honour services to the empire
by her Indian subjects. Subsequently, all the Indian princely
states received flags with symbols based on the heraldic criteria of
Europe including the right to fly defaced British red ensigns
Flag of
British India, 1858–1947
In the early
twentieth century, around the coronation of Edward VII, a discussion
started on the need for a heraldic symbol that was representative of the Indian
empire. William Coldstream, a British member of the Indian Civil Service,
campaigned the government to change the heraldic symbol from a star, which he
considered to be a common choice, to something more appropriate that would bind
the people to the Kingdom of Great
Britain. His proposal was not well received by the government; Lord Curzon rejected it
for practical reasons including the multiplication of flags. Around this time,
nationalist opinion within the dominion was leading to a representation through
religious tradition. The symbols that were in vogue included the Ganesha, advocated by Bal Gangadhar Tilak,
and Kali, advocated by Aurobindo Ghosh and Bankim Chandra
Chattopadhyay. Another symbol was the cow, or Gau Mata (cow
mother). However, all these symbols were Hindu-centric and did not suggest
unity with India's Muslim population.
The partition of
Bengal (1905) resulted in the introduction of a new Indian flag that
sought to unite the multitude of castes and races within the country. The Bande
Mataram flag, part of the Swadeshi movement against
the British, comprised Indian religious symbols represented in western heraldic
fashion. The tricolour flag included eight white lotuses on the upper red band –
representing the eight provinces, a sun and a crescent on the bottom green band –
representing the Hindu and Muslim population respectively, and the Bande
Mataram slogan in Hindi on the central yellow band. The flag was launched
in Calcutta bereft of any
ceremony 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. A slightly modified version was subsequently used by Madam Bhikaji Cama at the
Second Socialist International Meeting in Stuttgart. 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. In 1916, Pingali Venkayya submitted
thirty new designs, in the form of a booklet funded by members of the High
Court of Madras.
These many proposals and recommendations did little more than keep the flag
movement alive. The same year, Annie Besant and Bal Gangadhar Tilak
adopted a new flag as part of the Home Rule
Movement. The flag included the Union Jack in the upper left corner,
a star and crescent in the upper right, and seven stars displayed diagonally
from the lower right, on a background of five red and four green alternating
bands. The flag resulted in the first governmental initiative against any
nationalistic flag, as a magistrate in Coimbatore banned its use.
The ban was followed by a public debate on the function and importance of a
national flag.
Gandhi's
flag, introduced at the Congress meeting in 1921
In the early
1920s, national flag discussions gained prominence across most British
dominions following the peace treaty between Britain and Ireland. In November
1920, 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 1921, 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.[10] The
idea of the spinning wheel was put forth by Lala Hansraj, and Gandhi
commissioned Venkayya to design a flag with the spinning wheel on a red and
green banner, the red colour signifying Hindus and the green standing for
Muslims. Gandhi wanted the flag to be presented at the Congress session of
1921, 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. However, soon the Sikhs wanted the banner to include the
black colour and Gandhi was forced to address these issues in his writings and
speeches. Finally, owing to the religious-political sensibilities, in 1929,
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
1923, during a procession by local Congress volunteers in Nagpur commemorating the Jallianwala Bagh
massacre, the Swaraj flag with the spinning wheel, designed
by 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. Finally, at the All India Congress Committee meeting in July,
at the insistence of Jawaharlal Nehru
and Sarojini Naidu,
Congress closed ranks and the flag movement was endorsed. 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 1500 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.
The Swaraj
Flag, officially adopted by the Congress in 1931
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 freedom 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.The Swaraj flag became the official flag of Congress at the 1931
meeting. However, by then, the flag had already become the symbol of the
independence movement.
Indian Flag,
the first stamp of independent India, released on 21 Nov 1947, was meant for
foreign correspondence.
A few days
before India gained its freedom in August 1947, the Constituent
Assembly was formed. To select a flag for independent India, on 23
June 1947, the assembly set up an ad hoc
committee headed by Rajendra Prasad
and including Maulana Abul
Kalam Azad, Sarojini Naidu, C. Rajagopalachari, K. M. Munshi and B.R. Ambedkar as its
members. On 14 July 1947, 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. The
spinning wheel of the Congress flag was replaced by the Chakra (wheel) from
the Lion Capital of
Ashoka. According to Sarvepalli
Radhakrishnan, the chakra was chosen as it was representative
of dharma and law.
However, 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 1947 as a horizontal tricolor 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.It
served as the national flag
of the Dominion of
India between 15 August 1947 and 26 January 1950, and has served as
the flag of the Republic of
India since then
