Before the British Raj, India Was Ruled by Different Princely States Which All Had Their Own Symbols to Represent the Kingdom

Flags

Before the British Raj, India was ruled by different princely states which all had their own symbols to represent the kingdom. How- -ever after the rebellion of 1857, which resulted in the establishment of direct imperial rule in the colony of India, the first flag reflected the fact that India was very much under British rule. It was a regular Union Jack defaced in the center with the Star of India with the image of the Tudor crown above it.

There were many variations of a flag that repre sented the Indian people put forth by various factions of the Indian freedom struggle. By the time of the Non cooperation movement of the early 1920's a full-fledged campaign had taken shape surrounding the right of Indians to hoist their own flag thereby challenging British rule and the laws that prohibited flying nationalist flags. This was a tricolour with the charkha or spinning wheel at its center. The rendering of the Indian flag as we see it today was a modified version of the the earlier tricolour. The charkha in the center was replaced with the Chakra to borrow from the idea of law and dharma that it represents on the Lion capital of Ashoka. The chakra has 24 spokes to represent the 24 hours of progress within the day; the saffron colour represents courage and sacrifice; white – truth and purity; green – peace and prosperity.

There are rules that govern how and for what an Indian flag can be used for. Here are some of them:

There is currently only one licensed flag production and supply unit in India that follow the strict guidelines of producing an Indian flag. An Indian flag must be made of khadi cloth of silk or cotton and each roll of cloth that eventually turns into a flag is sent to a lab to be tested for quality.

The flag must never touch the ground or water, or be used as a drapery in any form.

Copyright © 2011 Mocomi & Anibrain Digital Technologies Pvt. Ltd. All Rights Reserved. The flag may not be placed intentionally upside down, dipped in anything or hold any objects other than flower petals before unfurling. When the flag is flown horizontally it must also be flipped 90 de- grees so that it reads left to right, like a book.

The original flag code restricted private citizens to flying the flag only on national holidays such as Republic day and Independence day. In 2001 Naveen Jindal flew an Indian flag outside his office building, which was promptly foniscated and he was warned of prosecution. Mr. Jindal filed suit in the High Court of Delhi seeking to strike down the restriction on the use of the flag by private citizens, arguing that it was his right as a citizen of India to hoist his national col- ours.

No complete representation of the flag can appear below the waist on clothing, or on undergarments.

Damaged flags must be disposed of in private by burning or any other method consistent with the dignity of the flag.