Flag Satyagraha and Nationalist Symbolism

The national flag served as an important symbol of unity, political identity, and collective defiance during the Indian freedom struggle. The evolution of the flag mirrored the ideological growth of Indian nationalism from regional anti-partition protests to a structured civil disobedience movement.

Key Milestones in Flag Evolution

• Calcutta Flag (1906): Unveiled on August 7, 1906, at Parsi Bagan Square in Calcutta during the Anti-Partition movement. It contained three horizontal bands of green, yellow, and red, featuring eight lotus flowers, the words Vande Mataram in Devanagari script, and a sun and crescent moon.
• Stuttgart Flag (1907): Hoisted by Madam Bhikaji Cama on August 22, 1907, at the International Socialist Conference in Stuttgart, Germany. It was designed by Cama, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, and Shyamji Krishna Varma, carrying green, saffron, and red stripes.
• Home Rule Flag (1917): Introduced by Lokmanya Tilak and Annie Besant during the Home Rule Movement. It featured five red and four green horizontal stripes, seven stars representing the Saptarishi constellation, a crescent moon, and a Union Jack in the top-left corner.
• Vijayawada Flag (1921): Designed by Pingali Venkayya of Andhra Pradesh and presented to Mahatma Gandhi at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) session in Vijayawada in March 1921. It originally consisted of red and green bands representing Hindus and Muslims. Gandhi suggested adding a white band for other communities and a spinning wheel (charkha) to symbolize self-reliance.

The Outbreak of Flag Satyagraha

The Flag Satyagraha, also known as the Jhanda Satyagraha, began in early 1923 in the Central Provinces. It originated as a localized protest against police restrictions on hoisting the nationalist tricolor in public municipal spaces.

Jabalpur Jhanda Satyagraha (March 1923)

• The movement started in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, in March 1923.
• During a visit by the Congress Inquiry Committee led by Hakim Ajmal Khan, local Congress leaders decided to hoist the national flag on the Jabalpur Municipality building.
• British Deputy Commissioner order prevented the flag hoisting, and police personnel removed and trampled the flag.
• In response, Pandit Sundarlal, Subhadra Kumari Chauhan, Nathuram Modi, and Lakshman Singh Chauhan led a public protest march.
• Pandit Sundarlal was arrested and sentenced to six months imprisonment for defying colonial bans on displaying the national flag.

Shift to Nagpur and All-India Mobilisation

Following the initial repression in Jabalpur, the epicenter of the movement shifted to Nagpur, the capital of the Central Provinces, where colonial authorities imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

• Launch Date: The campaign expanded on April 13, 1923, coinciding with the anniversary of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre.
• Organizing Leadership: Jamnalal Bajaj, Bhagwandin Sharma, and C. Rajagopalachari led the initial daily marches through restricted areas of Nagpur.
• National Support: At the AICC meeting in Nagpur on July 7, 1923, Sarojini Naidu moved a resolution supported by Jawaharlal Nehru to give the Flag Satyagraha all-India character.
• Sardar Patel’s Command: After the arrest of Jamnalal Bajaj, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and his brother Vithalbhai Patel arrived in Nagpur in July 1923 to direct the strategy and lead negotiations with colonial officials.
• Mass Arrests: Over 1,848 satyagrahis courted arrest during the campaign. Volunteers arrived from Gujarat, Bengal, Madras, Bihar, and the United Provinces. The overwhelming numbers forced authorities to establish a new prison camp in Akola.

Culmination and Impact of the Movement

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel conducted negotiations with the administration of the Central Provinces, refusing to compromise on the constitutional right of citizens to carry the national flag peacefully.

Colonial Concession and Peace Settlement

• Sardar Patel notified police authorities that a large procession carrying the national flag would march through the restricted Civil Lines area of Nagpur on August 18, 1923.
• Facing organized mass civil disobedience, colonial officials allowed the procession to pass unhindered, effectively revoking the ban.
• Sardar Patel and Makhanlal Chaturvedi led the victory procession through Nagpur, terminating at the Tiger Gap ground.
• On September 3, 1923, the British government released all 1,848 arrested satyagrahis from Akola and Nagpur prisons.
• The victory established the national flag as a recognized symbol of popular sovereignty and demonstrated the effectiveness of non-violent civil disobedience during the quiet period between the Non-Cooperation and Civil Disobedience movements.

Flag Evolution Post-1923 and Constitutional Adoption

The success of the 1923 movement led the Indian National Congress to formalize the flag design and establish specific rules for its public display.

The 1931 Resolution and Final Redesign

• In 1931, the Congress appointed a Seven-Member Flag Committee comprising Sardar Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Azad, Master Tara Singh, K.K. Sen, D.B. Kalelkar, and Dr. N.S. Hardikar.
• The Karachi Session of the Congress in 1931 officially adopted the Swaraj Flag. The red band was replaced with saffron at the top, followed by white in the middle, and green at the bottom, with a blue spinning wheel (charkha) placed in the white band.
• The Congress clarified that the colors carried no communal significance: saffron represented courage and sacrifice, white represented peace and truth, and green represented faith and chivalry.

Constituent Assembly Adoption (1947)

• On June 23, 1947, the Constituent Assembly set up an Ad-hoc Committee on the National Flag chaired by Dr. Rajendra Prasad. The committee members included Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Sarojini Naidu, C. Rajagopalachari, K.M. Munshi, and B.R. Ambedkar.
• On July 22, 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru moved the resolution in the Constituent Assembly to adopt the national flag.
• The spinning wheel (charkha) was replaced by the 24-spoke Dharma Chakra (Wheel of Law) from the Ashoka Pillar at Sarnath to ensure the flag was symmetrical and visually distinct when draped or fluttering.

Essential Historical Facts

The first national flag of India hoisted on foreign soil was unfurled by Madam Bhikaji Cama on August 22, 1907, in Stuttgart, Germany, during the International Socialist Conference. That original flag was later smuggled into India and is preserved at the Maratha Wada Sabha in Pune. Pingali Venkayya, an agriculturist and linguist from Andhra Pradesh, researched flag designs from over thirty countries between 1916 and 1921 before publishing a booklet titled A National Flag for India. Subhadra Kumari Chauhan, a renowned Hindi poetess who authored the poem Jhansi Ki Rani, became the first woman satyagrahi to court arrest during the Jabalpur Flag Satyagraha in 1923. The official manufacturing of the National Flag of India is governed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). The Karnataka Khadi Gramodyoga Samyukta Sangha (KKGSS), located in Bengeri, Hubballi, is the sole licensed manufacturing and supply unit for the national flag in India. The Flag Code of India, 2002, consolidated all existing laws, conventions, and practices governing the display of the flag. An amendment made on December 30, 2021, allowed the use of machine-made and polyester flags, alongside traditional hand-spun and hand-woven Khadi flags, to facilitate wider public display.