An emblem or a symbol is an object , a formal identification of values a nation or a person stands for. How much one should get identified with it, is a question that needs to be asked to every intelligent citizen.
It is good to be proud of one's national symbol, but it is totally another issue to be so identified with it that one is blinded by sentiments.
Every day we read about a new furor over insulting this and that national emblem. Sometimes it is Sachin Tendulkar cutting his birthday cake baked as the national flag, at other times it is glamorous cricket commentator Mandira Bedi wearing a sari with the national flag designed on it.
On another occasion even the Infosys chief Mr Narayan Murty, who arranged to play the national anthem as a tune, is asked to apologize for this " unpatriotic" act.
In their unreasonable ire people don't recognize that the intention of Mr Murty was not to embarrass the foreign staff members of Infosys as they cannot pronounce  the words of the national anthem. Nobody would say that either Sachin or Mandira wanted to insult the flag. The question is not whether these creative people dishonoured the nation; for me the question is why we Indians are getting hyper about the innocent gestures of our creative geniuses, who are the pride of the nation. Sachin Tendulkar or Narayan Murty have done India proud in their respective fields. They are as much an identity of India as is the national flag. It need not be emphasized that we are a sentimental creed. We can easily be swept off our feet by any instigator, and political minded people make use of this characteristic. Why do we cling to our symbols as if they were our lifeline? Psychology has shown that during the process of learning and personality development various identifications take place . They are essential at a particular time, but slowly as people mature the abstract quality behind the symbol has to be understood and absorbed by the being.
For example, the national flag is a symbol for freedom. The saffron color stands for courage, sacrifice and the spirit of renunciation; the white, for purity and truth; and the green for faith and fertility.
It is the 21st century, guys. Let us mature and reclaim our lost identity which is nothing  other than our spiritual self. Once we disidentify ourselves with this misplaced, mistaken identity, we can act out of our true integrity.