The Indian National Flag : The Designers

 What Betsy Ross is to America, Pingali Venkayyaa is to India  

Betsy Ross is wrongly credited as the creator of the first U.S. ‘Stars and Stripes’ with the stars arranged in a circle, so that no State can claim precedence over another. But subsequent researches attribute the design credit to Francis Hopkinson. However, Ross’ biographer Marla Miller asserted that the question of her involvement in the flag should not be one of design, but of production.   

Similarly, there is a wrong perception in India that Pingali Venkayyaa had designed the Indian National flag. No, it is not true. Pingali did not design the present national flag of India (He was the maker of the Swadeshi flag of 1921). Albeit, most Indians are made to believe the ‘myth’ that the Indian National Flag - ‘The Tiranga’ adopted on 22 July 1947 by the Constituent Assembly was designed by Pingali Venkayyaa. This is travesty of history. The historical evidence does not support the theory of just one individual maker of the Indian National flag. Rather, the present flag, like the Freedom Movement, was the work of many hands.
The Flag we fly today was designed by Mrs. Suraiya Badr-ud-din Tyabji .
 

India’s Tiranga flag has become a recognizable symbol the world over and is a source of great pride to Indians. The booklet ‘Our Flag’ published by the Publications Divisions, Govt. of India (January 1950) states; “The evolution of the Indian National Flag reflects the political developments in the country during the 20^th century……”.  page 1 (Origin)

The Flag of India evolved through a sustained process.

There were many flags already in use in India and abroad by the Indian exiled revolutionaries, much before Pingaly Venkayyaa (1876-1963) - a great patriot and an aggressive  campaigner of National flag, came up with a booklet  ‘A National Flag for India’ in 1916. Pingali had put forth about 24 designs for the Indian flag in his booklet.  
Pingali's designs were never able to enthuse Gandhi; and in his designs, Gandhi saw nothing to stir the nation to its depths.

Here are the full stories;

1  1) Sister Nivedita (1867-1911) - an Irish disciple of Swami Vivekananda (born Margaret Noble) devised a square flag emblazoned with a Vajra (Thunderbolt) and the slogan Bande-Mataram in the centre in 1905, the year Lord Curzon declared ‘partition of Bengal’.

2)   In 1906 on the first anniversary of ‘partition of Bengal’ a tricolor flag was raised by Sir Surendranath Bannerjee , The flag was jointly designed by Sachindra Prasad Basu and Sukumar Mitra with the support of volunteers of Anushilan Society (a secret Society). The flag was made by Kumudini Basu, sister of Sukumar Mitra. The flag was later hoisted by Dadabhai Naoroji in the Calcutta Congress in December 1906. Reportedly Pingali Venkayyaa was present as Congress delegate during the event.

3)   A strikingly similar flag was displayed at Stuttgart Germany in 1907 by Madam Bikaiji Cama. Bhupendranath Dutta, younger brother of Swami Vivekananda wrote in one of his well researched book that "It was Hem Chandra Kanungo (Das) - a member of the Anushilan Samity and ‘in know’ of the Calcutta flag made the Cama’s flag in Paris". The similarity of the two flags was not a coincidence or an example of ‘Parallelism in history’. Hem Chandra was a member of Anushilan Society (a secret society engaged in Bengal in early 1900s). All the members of the society had to take an oath of secrecy, as such, Hem Chandra never claimed publicly that it was he who made the flag for Madam Cama. But his biographers later on came out and revealed how Hemchandra got involved with Cama and made the flag (a variant of the Calcutta flag) for her to wave it at Stuttgart.

4)   Home Rule flag, 1917 designed with the approval of Annie Besant, B.P. Wadia, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Mohammad  Ali Jinnah.

The above described flags  evoked limited response amongst the masses and were used  only in certain events during our early phases of freedom movements. With the passage of time all these flags relegated to history.

 Evolution of Swaraj Flag (1921-1931) - First Pan India National Flag.

 We know from M.K.Gandhi’s  (He was not yet Mahatma then) article published in Young India in April 1921, I quote; 

Mr. P Venkayya of the National College, Masulipatam, has for some years placed before the public a suggestive booklet describing the flags of the other nations and offering designs for an Indian National-Flag. But, whilst I have always admired the persistent zeal with which Mr. Venkayya has prosecuted the cause of a National-Flag at every session of the Congress for the past four years, he was never able to enthuse me; and in his designs I saw nothing to stir the nation to its depths. … It was Lala Hansraj of Jullundur who, in discussing the possibilities of the spinning wheel, suggested that it should find a place on our Swaraj-Flag. I could not help admiring the originality of the suggestion. At Bezwada I asked Mr. Venkayya to give me a design containing a spinning wheel on a red (Hindu Colour) and Green (Muslim colour) background. His enthusiastic spirit enabled me to possess a flag in three hours. It was just a little late for presentation to the All-India Congress Committee. I am glad it was so. On maturer consideration I saw that the background should represent the other religions also. Hindu-Muslim unity is not an exclusive term; it is an inclusive term, symbolic of the unity of all faiths domiciled in India. If Hindus and Muslims can tolerate each other, they are together bound to tolerate all other faiths. The unity is not a menace to the other faiths represented in India or to the world. So I suggest that the background should be white and green and red. The white portion is intended to represent all other faiths.

 Unquote.

Take Mahatma Gandhi’s writings seriously (and why not), it was Gandhi who took the pivotal role in formulating the first Swaraj flag design, where Pingali Venkayyaa  was only responsible for the production of the first  “flag” . Surely, Pingali was not the inventor of the Swaraj flag. Pingali Venkayya published a booklet titled "A National Flag for India" in 1916. His passionate obsession for a national Flag for India compelled the Congress leaders  to address the flag issue with greater depth perhaps for the first time. Pingali Venkayya is and will remain as the pioneer protagonist of our National flag.

Some of the flag designs made by Pingali Venkayyaa. Gandhi did not like any of the flag designs produced by Pingali.

In all his 24-designs predominantly with Hindu religious traditions, was a small Union Jack at the upper left corner (Canton), which was undesirable. It is interesting to find that the Sister Nivedita’s ‘Vajra flag’ was also found a place in Pingali’s flag list.  

 

There were resentments about the communal interpretations of the colours of the Swaraj flag, notwithstanding Gandhi’s approval. So, a 'Flag Committee' was formed in 1931 to recommend and advice a new Flag for India.

India Post notoriously known as ‘dead brains’ and most ignorant of Indian History issued a postage stamp in 2009 in honour of Pingali Venkayyaa. The brochure released by India Post on the occasion projected him as the designer of the Purna Swaraj Flag and misquoted Gandhi. What a mockery. 

Purna Swaraj Flag (1931-1947) was formulated by the members of the Congress Working Committee chaired by Sardar Ballavbhai Patel in accordance with the inputs from Jawaharlal Nehru in Bombay in August 1931. Earlier, the ‘Flag Committee – 1931’ headed by Dr Pattabhi Sitaramiyyaa failed miserably to recommend/find a suitable flag design. 

Note: Pingali Venkayyaa was not even included in the ‘Flag Committee-1931’, nor he was a member of the Congress Working Committee, (probably by then; Pingali Venkayyaa had withdrawn himself from the mainstream politics). The design of the Purna Swaraj Flag was transferred to Khadi bunting by another Congress volunteer Dr. N. S. Hardikar.

Finally in 1947 the Constituent Assembly set up an ad hoc committee under the chairmanship of Dr. Rajendra Prasad  to recommend a new flag of Free India, The Committee unanimously chose Asoka Chakra device in place of Gandhi’s Charkha. 

The model of the new flag of free India was made by Mrs. Suraiya Badr-ud-din Tyabji  on 17July 1947. (Mrs Tyabji’s husband was the joint secretary in the Constituent Assembly and grandson of the great Tayabji who was the President of the Congress party in 1887). 

 Mahatma Gandhi was not too happy with the replacement of the charkha in the flag. He admitted in a statement published in the Harijan that, ‘Nothing would have lost, if our councillors had never thought of interfering with the design of the original flag.’  

 In a statement made in Lahore on 6 August 1947, Gandhi said, "I must say that, if the Flag of the Indian Union will not embody the emblem of the Charkha, I will refuse to salute that flag. You know the National Flag of India was first thought of by me, and I cannot conceive of India’s National Flag without the emblem of the Charkha".

Attempts at debunking the Pingali Venkayyaa myth had not been very fruitful. When a Belief has been in Circulation, People Find it Difficult to Negate it, Even when Pointed out.

Our History is Rich but our Historians are Poor !

Mahatma Gandhi on the National Flag of India

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948), in the eyes of his admirers,  “Mahatma” (Great Soul).

Mahatma Gandhi for the first time came up with his ideas/views on the National Flag of India through an article published in ‘Young India’ in April 1921.  

  “A flag is a necessity for all nations. Millions have died for it, it is no doubt a kind of idolatry which it would be a sin to destroy. For a flag represents an ideal. The unfurling of the Union Jack evokes in the English breast sentiments whose strength it is difficult to measure. The Stars and Stripes mean a world to the Americans. The Star and the Crescent will call forth the best bravery in Islam. It will be necessary for us Indians - Hindus, Mohammedans, Christians, Jews, Parsis, and all others to whom India is their home - to recognise a common flag to live and to die for”.

 

The Tricolour, known as ‘Swaraj flag’ was first evolved at AICC meeting at Bejwada in 1921 when a ‘green and red’ flag made by Pingali  Venkayyaa and improved by Mahatma Gandhi with the addition of a white stripe at the top. The idea of ‘charkha’ came from Lala Hansraj of Jalandhar.

Gandhi explained in his aforesaid article ‘The National Flag’, 

^{The white portion is intended to represent all other faiths. The weakest numerically occupy the first place. The Islamic colour comes next; the Hindu colour red comes last, the idea being that the strongest should act as a shield to the weakest ... to represent the equality of the least of us with the best, an equal part is suggested to all three colours in the design. ...The regulation size of the flag should contain the drawing of a full sized spinning-wheel.}

In early 1947 the British decided to quit India. Admiral of the Fleet Earl Mountbatten of Burma - the last Viceroy and the first Governor General of India put forward a proposal on 24 June 1947 to the Congress and Muslim League leaders to include the Union Jack at the canton of their respective National flags, so as to reflect the symbolic continuity with Britain.

^{‘I have expressed a hope that I would be able to persuade the new Dominions to have the Union Jack in the upper canton of their flag, as do other members of the Commonwealth. This design has not been accepted by either party. I have not pressed the leaders further…..  Jinnah, in turning down the suggestion, explained that it would be repugnant to the religious feelings of the Muslims to have a flag with a Christian Cross alongside the Crescent. Nehru asked if I would mind if Congress rejected the design on the grounds that although Gandhi, Patel and others had originally expressed their willingness to accept it, they had now come to the conclusion that the general feeling among the Congress extremists was that the leaders were pandering far too much’} 

^{Reconstructed image of the proposed flag for India by Mountbatten (image created by Zachary Harden).}

  Leonard Moseley in his book The Last Days of the British Raj (Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc.; First Edition 1962) writes;

    "In the case of the flags for the new Dominions, the Viceroy had not been inactive. Among his hobbies, along with the compilation of his family tree, was heraldry and design. He himself sketched and prepared the design for the flags of both Pakistan and India. One was based on the flag of Congress -- with Gandhi's spinning wheel -- and the other on the Muslim League's crescent.  To each he added a small Union Jack, one ninth in area, sewn into the upper canton. He sent them to Jinnah and Nehru for their approval, as 'helpful suggestions'.                                                                                                                                  "Jinnah coldly replied that in no circumstances could the design be accepted as it would be repugnant to the religious feelings of the Muslims to have a Christian Cross alongside the Crescent. Nehru rejected the design on the grounds that, although Gandhi and Sardar Patel and others had originally expressed their willingness to accept it, he had now come to the conclusion that the prevailing feeling among Congress extremists was that the leaders were pandering to the British. This had reached a point where it was inadvisable to press the design upon them. Nehru sent the Viceroy a design prepared by Congress which showed the Dominion flag as closely resembling the Congress flag, but with the wheel of the Sarnath Asoka replacing the spinning wheel. And, of course, no Union Jack."  http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/in!.html

Regarding the protest against the Viceroy’s proposal to include a small Union Jack in the Indian flag; Gandhiji saw, nothing wrong in that as long as India was a Dominion included in the British Commonwealth. Such a display would be an act of courtesy, and a gesture worthy of the best traditions built up in India. But, he had learnt at the Working Committee meeting that the Union Jack was not in fact going to be included. The Mahatma asked his audience not to rejoice over this omission!

Answering a question in a prayer meeting at New Delhi, Mahatma Gandhi had said, “But what is wrong with having the Union Jack in a corner of our flag? If harm has been done to us by the British it has not been done by their flag and we must also take note of the virtues of the British. They are voluntarily withdrawing from India, leaving power in our hands... It pains me that the Congress leaders could not show this generosity... If I had the power that I once had I would have taken the people to task for it. After all, why should we give up our humanity” .

The Flag Committee chose the Asoka’s Dharma Chakra for the reason that amongst all the chakras that came to their mind the “Sarnath Chakra” was the most beautiful and artistic. On the flag, it would signify India’s continual progress and growth.

Mahatma Gandhi was not too happy with the replacement of the Charkha in the flag with Buddhist Emperor Asoka's Dharma Chakra (Wheel of Law). Though Nehru insisted that the change was not significant, Gandhi had his reservations, fearing that the association with the lion in the Asokan emblem would signify violence. He admitted in a statement published in the Harijan that, ‘Nothing would have lost if our councillors had never thought of interfering with the design of the original flag.’ In a statement made in Lahore on 6 August 1947, Gandhi said,

"I must say that, if the Flag of the Indian Union will not embody the emblem of the Charkha, I will refuse to salute that flag. You know the National Flag of India was first thought of by me, and I cannot conceive of India’s National Flag without the emblem of the Charkha". 

We have, however been told by Pandit Nehru and others that the sign of the Wheel or Chakra in the National flag symbolises the Charkha also ..."

On 15^th August 1947 the people of Khulna (now in Bangladesh) hoisted the Indian tri-colour flag  thinking  Khulna will go to India but the Boundary Commission headed by Radcliffe awarded it to East Pakistan   (The boundary line, known as  Radcliffe Line, was published on 17^th  August 1947 as a boundary demarcation between India and Pakistan) .
 

The people of Khulna called on Mahatma Gandhi who was then in Calcutta and ask him what is to be done to the hoisted tri-colour ? 
It was Gandhi’s ‘day of silence’, so, he wrote on a piece of paper:  
“There can be no two opinions, the Union flag must go. Pakistan’s must be hoisted without demur and with joy if possible. Award is award, good or bad”.