The Journey of India's Tiranga | 6 Flags, 40 Years, One National Identity

[00:00:00]Well, every Independence Day, the tricolor rises and India salutes. But, behind those three bands lies nearly a half a century of struggle, six flags, many hands, and a flag code that governs how it flies today. As the remarkable story of the Tiranga, let's take a look at this report by Sucharita Loka.

[00:00:30]>> Every 15th [music] of August, the tricolor rises against the sky and a nation salutes. But, the flag we honor today wasn't born in a single moment.

[00:00:42]Its design took shape across nearly half a century through many hands.

[00:00:50]India became free on the 15th of August, 1947.

[00:00:54]The flag itself was adopted a few weeks earlier on the 22nd [music] of July, 1947, when the Constituent Assembly chose the Tiranga for a free nation. But, where did the design begin?

[00:01:08]The early flags, [music] 1904 to 1931.

[00:01:13]Its roots ran back decades. Sister Nivedita [music] sketched one of the earliest nationalist flags in 1904. The Calcutta flag followed in 1906 in green, yellow, and red.

[00:01:27]Madam Bhikaji Cama flew a version abroad in 1907. Tilak and Annie Besant raised the Home Rule flag in 1917, [music] and in 1921, Pingali Venkayya gave Mahatma Gandhi the design with a white band [music] and a chakra added. The Congress adopted as the Swaraj flag in 1931 with saffron, white, and green.

[00:01:58]And in 1947, [music] on the eve of freedom, one final change was made. The charkha gave way to the Ashok Chakra. The 24-spoke wheel of law from the lion capital at Sarnath, turning like the eternal wheel of Dharma.

[00:02:18]Flag code of India 2002.

[00:02:21]How the Tiranga is used is itself [music] governed by law, the flag code of India 2002.

[00:02:28]It fixes [music] the flag's proportions at 3:2 and sets out how it must be flown with dignity.

[00:02:36]In 2021, the code was amended to allow machine-made and polyester flags alongside [music] hand-spun khadi.

[00:02:45]And in 2022, under the Har [music] Ghar Tiranga campaign, citizens were allowed to fly the flag at home both day and night, where once it could rise only from sunrise to sunset.

[00:03:02]Saffron for courage and sacrifice. White for peace and truth.

[00:03:09]Green for faith and prosperity. And at the center, a wheel that never stops turning.

[00:03:20]Six flags.

[00:03:21]Four decades.

[00:03:23]One nation discovering [music] itself.

[00:03:25]Thread by thread. So, whenever the Tiranga rises, it carries the dreams of everyone who [music] imagined a free India before it existed.

[00:03:38]Sujata Lochab for DD India.