NEW DELHI: Even as the country is celebrating its 75th Independence Day Sunday, there is an apparent curiosity about the national flag, which holds the central place in recalling the sacrifices made by the freedom fighters. The national flag is manufactured and supplied from only one place in India. The Karnataka Khadi Gramodyog Samyukta Sangh (KKGSS), located at Dharwad in Karnataka, has been authorised to manufacture and supply the Tricolour.
According to the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the flag is manufactured only with hand-spun and hand-woven cotton khadi wafting. There are 100 specialist spinners and another 100 weavers employed at KKGSS to manufacture the flags, said sources.
The first variant of the country’s national flag was designed by freedom fighter Pingali Venkayya in 1921. The current flag with saffron, white and green colours and the Ashok Chakra in the middle was officially adopted July 22, 1947, and was hoisted August 15, 1947. Interestingly, the national flag with three horizontal stripes of red, yellow and green was hoisted at Parsee Bagan Square in Kolkata August 7, 1906.
Every year people across India celebrate Independence Day August 15 and remember the sacrifices made by the freedom fighters to get independence from almost 200 years of British rule.
The Indian Independence Bill was introduced in the British House of Commons July 4, 1947, and it was passed within a fortnight.
The Bill brought an end to British rule in India. The first Prime Minister of the country, Jawaharlal Nehru, unfurled the Indian national flag atop Lahori Gate of the Red Fort in Delhi August 15, 1947. Since then, the tradition has been followed by the incumbent Prime Ministers.
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As the country is going to celebrate its 75th Independence Day Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to unfurl the Tricolour on the ramparts of Red Fort in the National Capital.
Our national anthem, ‘Jana Gana Mana’ was composed by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore in 1911, but the song was originally composed as ‘Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata’. It was renamed as ‘Jana Gana Mana’ and adopted by the Constituent Assembly of India as the National Anthem January 24, 1950.
Along with India, five other countries namely Bahrain, North Korea, South Korea, Republic of Congo and Liechtenstein celebrate their independence day August 15.
Goa was the last state to join the Indian Territory. Even after India’s independence, Goa was a Portuguese colony. It was annexed to India only in 1961.