Indian Flag - History, Symbolism, Design and Structure

Flag Of India  
                         

                           The national flag of India 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 is was adopted in its present form during a meeting of the constituent assembly held on 22 July 1947, and it become the official flag of the on 15 August 1947. The flag was subsequently retained as that of the republic of India, the flag based on the SWARAJ FLAG, a flag of the Indian National Congress, designed by Pingali Venkayya.







Design and Construction 
                            According to the flag code of India. The Indian flag has a ratio of Two by three ( where the length of the flag is 1.5 times that of the width ). All three stripes of the flag Saffron White and Green are to be equal in width and length. The size of the Ashoka Chakra is not specified in the flag code, but it has 24 spokes that are evenly spaced in section 4.3.1, Manufacturing standard for the Indian flag, Size details are,

                                                Flag Size   Length & width (mm)      Size of Ashoka Chakra (mm)                                                               1             6300 x 4200                         1295
                                                      2             3600 x 2400                           740
                                                      3             2700 x 1800                           555
                                                      4             1800 x 1200                           370
                                                      5             1350 x   900                           280
                                                      6               900 x   600                           185
                                                      7               450 x   300                             90
                                                      8               225 x   150                             40
                                                      9               150 x  100                              25



Colours and Materials 

                                                  Colour                   A            B             C            Brightness

                                              India Saffron          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                            


Symbolism 
                 
                       Our leaders must be indifferent to materials gains and dedicate themselves to their work.

• Bhagwa or the Saffron colour denotes Renunciation or disinterestedness. 
• The White in the centre is light, - The path of Truth to guide our conduct. 
• The green shows our relations to Soil, our relation to plant life.
• Ashoka Chakra in the centre of the White is the wheel of the Law of Drama, the Wheel denotes the motion. The wheel represents the Dynamism of a peaceful change.

                            There is death in stagnation, there is life in movement India should not more resist change, it must more and go forward.            

History 

• A number of flag's 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 its raised by the British rulers of India after the rebellion of 1857, which resulted in the establishment of direct imperial rule. All the Indian princely states received flags with symbol's based on the heraldic of Europe including the right of fly defaced British red ensigns.

• 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 Swadeshi Movement against the British, comprised Indian religious symbol represented in western heraldic fashion. The flag based on the Calcutta flag. The design of the flag of Indian Independence raised by Bhikaji Cama on 22 August 1907, at the International socialist conference in Stuttgart, Germany.

• 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. The idea of the spinning wheel was put forth by Lala Hansraj, and Gandhi commissioned Pingali 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. 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.

• Detractor's of the flag movement, including Motilal Nehru, soon hailed the Swaraj Flag as a symbol of National Unity thus, the flag became a significant structure component of the institution of India. In contrast to the subdued response of the past, the British Indian Government took greater cognisance of the new flag and began to define a policy of response. 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.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
• A few day's before India gained the Independence in August 1947, the constituent assembly was formed, to selected a flag for Independent India on 23 June 1947, the assembly set up an AD HOC committee headed by Rajendra Prasad and including Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad, Sarojini Naidu, C. Rajagopalachari, K.M. Munshi, and B. R. Ambedkar as its member's 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 committee.