National Flag Adoption Day: What made Indians opt for Tricolour on its flag?

India gained independence on August 15, 1947. So when it was decided that India will be an independent country and it will be divided into two parts-India and Pakistan, the leaders in those times found it necessary that the country must now have a flag of its own.

It was the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi who was very much insistent that India must have its own flag and said that it is the necessity of all the nations.

Gandhi said, “Millions have died for it. It is no doubt a kind of idolatry which would be a sin to destroy.” That is how the current national flag of India came into existence on June 22, 1947.

The tricolour or Indian flag has three colours-deep saffron at the top, dark green at the bottom, and white in the middle with a navy blue chakra resembling the 24 spokes chakra or wheel found on the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka.

For centuries the Indian subcontinent was divided into various princely states with each having their own flag. But during the freedom movement, the entire country became one.

Many princely states like Nizam of Hyderabad gave up their sovereignty so that a single, big nation could be formed. That necessitated the existence of a flag to represent India internationally.

But the idea that India should have its independent flag first took root during the British rule and was put forth by the British rulers after the 1857 rebellion.

The idea that India should have a flag with three colours was first put forth by Bhikaji Cama who designed the first “Flag of Indian Independence” in green, saffron, and yellow colour demonstrating three religions-Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism.

She presented this flag on August 22, 1907, at Germany’s International Socialist Conference in Stuttgart. However, over the years this flag underwent many changes and finally was accepted in its current form.