Independence Day 2021: History, significance and rare facts about the national flag

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The whole nation is all set to celebrate the most important milestone in India's history as the 75th Independence Day is just around the corner. Independence Day marks the occasion when India finally achieved freedom against Britishers on 15 August 1947.

The national festival is a reminder of the countless sacrifices of our leaders and freedom fighters.

Every year, on this day, India's prime minister unfurls the national flag 'tiranga' or 'tricolour' on the Red Fort. This year as well, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hoist the tricolour and address the nation from the Red Fort.

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For the unversed, the national flag came into existence after a series of modifications and developments.

Below, check out a few interesting facts about the national flag:

- India's first national flag was hoisted in the Parsee Bagan Square (Green Park) of Kolkata (then Calcutta) on 7 August, 1906. It was made of three horizontal stripes of green, yellow, and red colours (top to bottom). The red strip had a sun and a crescent while the green strip had eight lotuses.

- The second flag was unfurled in 1907 by Madame Cama and her band of exiled revolutionaries. The second flag was similar to the first one, however, a few changes were done on it. The colour of the strips was changed with saffron on the top, yellow in the middle, and green on the bottom. The lotuses were changed with stars on the top strip and the positions of the sun and crescent were also interchanged.

- In 1917, the third modification of the national flag was hoisted by Dr Annie Besant and Lokmanya Tilak during the Home Rule movement. On the third flag, five red and four green horizontal strips were alternately arranged. It had the Union Jack on the left-hand top corner along with seven stars in the saptarishi configuration. In one corner, a white crescent and star were also placed.

- An Andhra youth, in 1921, showed a new design of a flag to Mahatama Gandhi during the All India Congress Committee session. It had two colors - Red and Green. The red colour represented Hindus while the green was for Muslims. Gandhi then suggested him to add another strip of white colour in order to represent all the remaining Indian communities. The idea of adding a spinning wheel to the design was also given by Gandhi as a symbol of the nation's progress.

- Then, in 1931, the resolution of adopting a tricolour flag as India's national flag was passed. It had three strips of saffron, white, and green (top to bottom) along with a spinning wheel in the center. While people were fine with the strips, they objected the inclusion of a spinning wheel reasoning that it had no communal significance.

- At last, the Constituent Assembly adopted free India National Flag on 22 July 1947. The colour strips and significance of the Indian national flag remained the same after Independence. However, Emperor Ashoka's Dharma Chakra replaced the spinning wheel as the flag's emblem.



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