INDIA IS MY COUNTRY..

MEANING OF INDIA FLAG..

There are various national symbols that represent each nation, one of them being the flag that every citizen salutes to. And every nation’s flag has a story to narrate; it has a history behind it.

The story of the Indian flag is based on a freedom struggle, which will be remembered for eons to come.

The reason for this is that here was one struggle based on the premise of peace and non-violence as propagated by Mahatma Gandhi. And this makes each citizen proud of being Indian.

The India flag was designed by Pingali Venkayya and was adopted at an ad hoc Constituent Meeting that was held on 22nd July 1947. The flag is made up of three colors placed horizontally and in equal proportion – saffron (on top), white (in the middle), green (bottom). In the center of the white portion is the Ashoka Chakra – a navy blue wheel with 24 spokes.

Where the meaning of the India flag goes, the nation’s first Vice-President, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, described it’s significance as follows: “Bhagwa or the saffron colour denotes renunciation or disinterestedness. Our leaders must be indifferent to material gains and dedicate themselves to their work.

The white in the centre is light, the path of truth to guide our conduct. The green shows our relation to (the) soil, our relation to the plant life here, on which all other life depends.

The ‘Ashoka Chakra’ in the centre of the white is the wheel of the law of dharma. Truth or satya, dharma or virtue ought to be the controlling principle of those who work under this flag. Again, the wheel denotes motion. There is death in stagnation. There is life in movement. India should no more resist change, it must move and go forward. The wheel represents the dynamism of a peaceful change."

Even though this is considered as one of the official descriptions of the flag; according to popular understanding saffron denotes spirituality, white is for peace, green is for abundance and the wheel represents justice. According to Independent India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, the flag not only represents freedom of the nation; but also freedom of each and every citizen of the country.

To commemorate the tireless efforts of the nation’s freedom fighter, each year citizens across the nation gather together to hoist the flag and salute to it as they sing the National Anthem. 15th August (Independence Day) and 26th January (Republic Day), are very important dates marked on every Indian nationals calendar.