Independence Day: The evolution of the Indian flag to the tricolour we know

The Indian flag has always been central to the Indian identity. The flag has dominated all public spheres on a range of issues across the vast country. However, the flag, stripes of saffron, white and green stacked in that order with the Ashoka Chakra for a pendant, came from decades of evolution. The different phases of the flag not only tell a story of India through time but also the personalities behind the freedom struggle.

A variant of the unofficial national flag was first recognised in 1906 during the national freedom struggle. Through several political, national developments and vicissitudes of time, the national flag evolved into the tricolour or the tiranga as we know it today.

In India, the first flag was hoisted on August 7, 1906, in Calcutta. At that time, the flag flaunted only three horizontal stripes of red, yellow and green, with Vande Mataram written in the middle. Believed to have been designed by freedom activists Sachindra Prasad Bose and Hemchandra Kanungo, the red strip on the flag had sun and a crescent moon, and the green strip had eight half-open lotuses.

The second flag was hoisted in Paris by Madame Cama and her band of exiled revolutionaries in 1907. Similar to the first flag, the modification in the second flag was that the top strip had only seven stars denoting the Saptarishi. This flag was also exhibited at a socialist conference in Berlin.

Dr Annie Besant and Lokmanya Tilak hoisted the third flag during the Home rule movement. This flag had five red and four green horizontal strips arranged alternately, with seven stars in the saptarishi configuration. The flag had a star and a crescent that occupied one corner of the flag while the other was taken by Union Jack.

Arguably, understanding the need for a national flag, Gandhi, in 1921 had asked Pengali Venkayya to design a flag, with the symbol of the charka or the spinning wheel. The flag as we know it today is largely attributed to Venkayya.

During the session of the All India Congress Committee which met at Vijaywada in 1921, Venkayya presented this flag, which was made of two colours: red and green, representing the two major communities i.e. Hindus and Muslims. To this, Gandhi apparently suggested the addition of a white strip to represent the remaining communities of India.

Some modifications later, the national flag was adopted in 1931. Red was replaced with saffron and the white strip moved to the middle. The center of the flag had the spinning wheel or charka.

The national flag of independent India was largely similar to the one in 1931 with the exception of the Ashok chakra replacing the charka or spinning wheel. In the tricolour, The saffron on top symbolises courage, the white symbolises peace and the green stands for auspiciousness of the land. The dharma chakra at the centre stands for movement and growth, with the 24 spokes symbolizing 24 virtues.