This blog is all about Flags of the World in general, with emphasis on Indian Flags in particular and its History from ancient to date, flags in news, etiquette, etc.
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Today 27th May 2010 is Tathagat Gautam Buddha Jayanti (anniversary) Day. This year is also happened to be the 125th anniversary year of the International Buddhist flag. We know elaborate arrangements were also made to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the hoisting of the first Buddshist flag in Sri Lanka on the day of Adhi Vesak Poya Day on April 28, 2010.
On this day let us focus on International Buddhist flag.
The Buddhist Flag symbolizes the six coloursof the Halo that emanated from the holy body of the Buddha when he attained enlightenment under a Bodhi Tree at Buddha Gaya in India.Blue for his hair, Golden-yellow for the epidermis, Red for the flesh, White for the bones and teeth and Scarlet for the palms, heel & lips, as they became blended together a Sixth colour was formed.
The Buddhist Flag was designed jointly by Col. Henry Steel Olcotte and Anagarika Dharmapala. Ven.Migettuwatte Gunananda Nayake Thera hoisted the Buddhist flag for the first time in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) on April 28, 1885 at the Deepaduttaramaya Temple, Kotahena.
The 100 th. Anniversary of the hoisting of the Buddhist Flag ( 1885 - 1985 ).
The Buddhist Flag was hoisted for the first time on April 28, 1885 at Kotahena, Sri Lanka (then Ceylon).
The Flag was officially accepted by a formal resolution of the World Fellowship of Buddhists in 1950.
The Flag is now widely used by the Buddhist Communities all over the World
View of Surat (Gujarat) from the sea (1670). (National Maritime Museum,
London)
Near the close of Queen Elizabeth-I’s reign on December 31,1600 a royal charter was granted to a Joint Stock Company described as “ The Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies” popularly known as East India Company or John Company. The Hector, a British galleon of the third voyage chartered by the John Company under William HawkinsTapati, near Surat. This was the first ship to fly an English flag off the coast of India. arrived on August 24, 1608 at the entrance to the River
The all over ‘water-marked paper’ used for the production of the first Indian Postage Stamps in 1854 has the East India Company’s ‘Coat-of -Arms’ comprising England’s Red Cross flags of St.George.
The East India Company's original headquarters on Leadenhall Street in
London(1648-1726).
Formerly the mansion house of Sir William Craven, this structure was rebuilt in
1726 and then replaced in 1799-1800 by a much larger building designed by the
architect Richard Jupp.
In 1687, Elihu Yale the second Governor of Madras, hoisted the Union Jack for the first time on the flag-mast at Fort St. George, Madras (now Chennai), replacing that of the East India Company’s flag. The 47. 5 meter (156 feet)mast is the oldest and tallest flag-mast ever built in India. On August 15, 1947, it was on this flag-mast that the Indian Tricolour was hoisted for the
first time and since then it has become the venue of the Independence Day Flag hoisting ceremony at Chennai.(The original wooden-mast was replaced by
a steel-mast of equal height in 1994).
Red Ensignwas established as the proper colours for the
British ships by a proclamation in 1674. The Merchant Shipping Act of
1894 brought up to date the law concerning the wearing of ensigns by
British ships. Prior to this many ensigns of various designs were in
use.
Interestingly, East India Company (John Company)
was allowed to have its own special Ensigns.
View of Bombay(East India men flying Company’s Ensigns).
- by Edward Barlow (Collection; National Maritime Museum, London).When Edward Barlow - a seaman made a voyage to India in 1670, he kept a journal and illustrated it with coloured sketches.
The sketches show ships at Bombay, Calicut and near Surat that carry flags with red and white stripes and the St. George’s Cross. The number of stripes is usually nine, eleven or thirteen. Edward Barlow made another voyage and additional sketches in 1683. The later sketches show flags with seven and even one with nineteen stripes. Barlow’s pictures also indicate that in addition to the Company’s Flag, the ships carried aRed Ensignwith the Cross of St. George in a white canton.
Continental or Grand Union Flag (1707-1801) of
the U.S. was identical to East India Company’s Ensign.
The badge of St.Helena has a vivid green sea against
blue sky is an East Indiaman, flying the Red Cross of
St. George from the stern, sailing between two cliffs.
In 1676 the Admiralty called to the Company’s attention the proclamation of King Charles II of two years previously that forbade Merchant Ships to wear more than two flags, the Red Ensign and the Red Cross of St. George as Jack.The result was a compromise formula whereby the Company was forbidden to fly its Ensign north of St. Helena Island.
The stamps depict S. S. Hindoostan - a British Mail Ship of P& O line on her maiden voyage from Southampton to Calcutta via Galle (Sri Lanka) in 1842 wearing the British ‘Red Ensign’.
Note; The Indian stamp shows the ship flying ‘Blue Ensign’- an incorrect depiction, also the Ship’s name is mis-spelt (not styled as per P&O adopted spelling) Hindosthan’.
Pandit Nehru introduced the Indian National Flag in the Constituent Assembly on 22nd
July 1947, he said, “ … this flag that I have the honour to present you is not, I hope and trust, a flag of the dominion over anybody, but a flag of freedom not only for ourselves, but a symbol of freedom for all people who may see it. And wherever it may go – and I hope it will go far- not only where Indians dwell as our ambassadors and ministers but across the far seas where it may be carried by the Indian ships, wherever it may go, it will bring a message of comradeship, a message that India wants to be friend with every country of the world and India wants to help any people who seek freedom. That hope will be the message of this flag everywhere…”.
I have received several requests from my friends to publish a check list of stamps issued from foreign countries featuring the Indian National Flag. Well, due to the fact that many stamp designs are not pictured in standard Stamp catalogues, it is impossible to determine whether or not there is a flag on some stamps and it is more challenging to say for sure whether the flag (particularly when the flag shown is small in size or partly hidden) on a stamp, is really the Indian tricolour. The quest is more complicated as there are also some flags which resemble very closely with the Indian National colours.
The list presented here is more of a reference work than a checklist, as such, it cannot be taken as complete list, also as stamps are being released from all over the World and every day there is a new stamp, the list given here is liable to become
out of date before it is published. However, I would appreciate any update or corrections to the list.
.
Indian National Flag complete with the Chakra
on foreign Stamps
(Listed in alphabetical order by countries and chronological by years within each country grouping)
Sr NoCountry Year No of StampsDenominationRemarks
1.1Afghanistan 1988 1 40 a Nehru Birth Centenary
2.1Antigua & Barbuda 1984 1(MS) $ 5 Great leaders
2.2 ,, 1988 1 45 c Salvation Army
3.1Aruba 1995 1 30 c 50 years of UN
4.1Bangladesh 1985 1 T 5 1st SAARC, Dhaka
4.2 ,, 1992 1 T 6 7th SAARC, Dhaka
4.3 ,, 1995 1 T 2 First decade of SAARC
4.4 ,, 2003 1 T 10 SAF Championship
4.5 ,, 2004 1 T 2 SAARC Jamboree
4.6 ,, 2005 1 T 6 13th SAARC, Dhaka
5.1Bhutan 1964 3 + MS 33 Ch, 1 Nu, 3 Nu Flags at half-mast
