National symbols are essential for every nation, and so is the National Flag. Saffron, White, and Green are the colours of India’s National Flag. This tri-colour flag is India’s identity as a nation. Whenever one sees these three colours, one knows that it denotes India.
The National Flag is hoisted on several occasions of national importance like Republic Day, Independence Day etc but some rules and regulations need to be followed while displaying and hoisting the National Flag. All of them are mentioned in the Flag Code of India.
History of the Indian National Flag
The tri-colour national flag that is used today is not the first national flag used by India. The nation has a long history of adopting different national flags. In 1906, the first-ever national flag was hoisted. It consisted of red, yellow, and green coloured horizontal stripes.
Pingali Venkayya proposed the second Indian national flag in 1921, consisting of two red and green bands. Then in 1931, India got its third national flag which was tri-coloured. It was adopted at a meeting of the Congress Committee in Karachi.
Finally, on July 22, 1947, in the meeting of the Constituent Assembly, the Indian National Flag in its present form, i.e. Saffron on top, White in the middle with Ashok Chakra and Green at the bottom, was adopted.
The Flag Code of India 2002
The Flag Code of India has been in effect since January 26, 2002. This code governs the use of the National Flag in India. It is an attempt to bring together all laws, conventions, practices and instructions regarding the display of the Indian National Flag.
As per this code, there are no restrictions on the display of the tri-coloured flag as long as its honour and dignity are maintained. It also does not replace any of the pre-existing rules regarding the national flag.
This code is divided into three different parts. The first part of this code gives the basic description of the tricoloured national flag of India. The second part describes the rules applicable to the national flag’s display by private and public institutions and educational institutes. The third part of this code contains the laws that apply to the display of the national flag by the government and its department.
Recent Amendments to the Flag Code of India 2002
Initially, only the flags made of hand-spun and hand-woven Khadi were allowed to be used. But as per the recent amendment to the Flag Code of India, 2002, flags made of hand-spun, hand-woven, and machine-made fabrics like cotton, polyester, wool, silk and Khadi can be used.
The Central government has taken this step to make the national flag accessible to every person. To mark 75 years of independence, “The Har Ghar Tiranga” campaign was launched. Under this campaign, the government urges everyone to hoist the national flag on Independence Day.
The amendment to the Flag Code led to mass production of the national flag, and it was available to everyone by August 15. But it could have gone better with everyone as people had contrasting views. While some happily accepted this decision, others criticised it, and some protests emerged.
