A horizontal tricolour of saffron at the top, white in the middle, and green at the bottom. In the centre is a navy blue wheel with twenty-four spokes, known as the Ashoka Chakra.
1st quarter: state emblem (the Lions of Sarnath) to represent national unity; 2nd quarter: elephant from Ajanta Caves to represent patience and strength; 3rd quarter: scales from the Red Fort, Old Delhi to represent justice and economy; 4th quarter: lotus vase from Sarnath to represent prosperity.
The ensign consists of the Indian national flag on the upper canton, a blue octagon encasing the national emblem atop an anchor to depict steadfastness, superimposed on a shield with the Navy's motto “Sam No Varuna” (a Vedic mantra invoking the god of seas to be auspicious) in Devanagari. The octagon represents the eight directions and has been included as a symbol of the Navy's “multidirectional reach and multidimensional operational capability”. The golden borders of the octagon have been inspired by the seal of Maratha Chhatrapati Shivaji.
Naval Reserve Ensign
Naval Reserve Ensign used by auxiliary ships and merchant ships whose captain is a Navy Reserve Officer.
"Strangely, the Indian national flag seems not to be used in military bases. I saw it only in schoolyards of government schools. Below are described some of the flags I have been able to see properly from the bus. Identification of the units was in most cases not possible for the reasons given above."
A white ensign, featuring the Flag of India in the canton, and a navy blue filled, gold-bordered octagon, enclosing the crest of the Indian Navy, located in the fly.
A red cross on a white field, with the Indian state emblem in yellow at the center, with the Indian national flag in the canton.
2014–2022
A red cross on a white field, with the Indian state emblem in yellow at the center with the motto Satyamev Jayate below, and the Indian national flag in the canton.
Sky blue flag with the badge of the IAF in the center, and 5 five-pointed gold stars in a vertical line in the fly. Only one person has ever been granted the right to this flag.[3]
Sky blue flag with the national flag in the canton, the IAF roundel in the lower fly, the IAF badge in the upper fly, and 5 five-pointed gold stars in a vertical line in the fly..[4]
Sky blue bordered with two thick golden yellow stripes and with two thick horizontal green stripes in the center.
1950–1980
Air Marshal of the Indian Air Force
Sky blue flag bordered with two thick horizontal golden yellow stripes, with one thick horizontal green stripe in the center.
1950–1980
Air Vice Marshal of the Indian Air Force
Sky blue flag bordered with two thick horizontal golden yellow stripes, with two thin horizontal green stripes in the center.
1950–1980
Air Commodore of the Indian Air Force
Swallowtail sky blue pennant bordered with two thick horizontal golden yellow stripes, with one thin horizontal green stripe in the center.
1950–1980
Group Captain of the Indian Air Force
Triangular sky blue pennant bordered in golden yellow, with one thick horizontal green stripe in the center.
1950–1980
Wing Commander of the Indian Air Force
Triangular sky blue pennant bordered in golden yellow, with two thin horizontal green stripes in the center.
1950–1980
Squadron Leader of the Indian Air Force
Sky blue flag bordered with two thick horizontal golden yellow stripes, with one thin horizontal green stripe in the center surmounted by an eagle in green. Below the stripe is the squadron number.
1934–1948: Flag of the Flag Officer Commanding, Royal Indian Navy 1948–1950: Flag of the Chief of the Naval Staff and Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy 1950–1954: Flag of the Chief of the Naval Staff and Commander-in-Chief, Indian Navy 1955–1958: Flag of the Chief of the Naval Staff, Indian Navy
1928–1932: Flag of the Flag Officer Commanding and Director, Royal Indian Marine 1934–1950: Flag of a Flag Officer, Royal Indian Navy 1950–1958: Flag of a Flag Officer, Indian Navy
At present there are no officially recognised flags for individual states and union territories of India. No legal prohibitions to prevent states adopting distinctive flags exist in either the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950 or the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971.[9] In a 1994 case before the Supreme Court of India, S. R. Bommai v. Union of India, the Supreme Court declared that there is no prohibition in the Constitution of India for a state to have its own flag. However, a state flag should not dishonour the national flag.[10] The Flag code of India also permits other flags to be flown with the Flag of India, but not on the same flag pole or in a superior position to the national flag.[11]
The flag was red with a plough in the centre. The red background stood for labour and the plough stood for agriculture. The ratio of the flag was 3:2.
1952–2019
The flag was red with three white vertical stripes in the hoist and a plough in the fly. The red background stood for labour, the stripes stood for the three administrative divisions of the state (Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh) and the plough stood for agriculture. The ratio of the flag was 3:2.[12]
Proposed state flags
Flags have been proposed for Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, but neither were officially adopted.
Flag of the Nihang Khalsa Fauj showing weapons like Katar (dagger), Dhal Shield and Kirpan. The standard goes from 'bottom to top' signifying that the armies of the tenth guru are always victorious.
Three horizontal bands of equal width with the top being orange, the centre yellow, and the bottom green. It had eight half-opened lotus flowers on the top stripe, and a picture of the sun and a crescent moon on the bottom stripe. वन्दे मातरम् (Vande Mātaram) was inscribed in the centre in Devanagari. The partition of Bengal (1905) resulted in the introduction of a new Indian flag that sought to unite the multitude of castes and races within the country. The Vande Mataram flag, part of the Swadeshi movement against the British, comprised Indian religious symbols represented in western heraldic fashion. The tricolour flag included eight white lotuses on the upper green band representing the eight provinces, a sun and a crescent on the bottom red band, and the Vande Mataram slogan in Hindi on the central yellow band. The flag was launched in Calcutta bereft of any ceremony and the launch was only briefly covered by newspapers. The flag was not covered in contemporary governmental or political reports either, but was used at the annual session of the Indian National Congress. A slightly modified version was subsequently used by Madam Bhikaji Cama at the Second Socialist International Meeting in Stuttgart. Despite the multiple uses of the flag, it failed to generate enthusiasm amongst Indian nationalists.[19]
Five red and four green horizontal stripes On the upper left quadrant was the Union Jack, which signified the Dominion status that the movement sought to achieve. A crescent and a star, both in white, are set in top fly. Seven white stars are arranged as in the Saptarishi constellation (the constellation Ursa Major), which is sacred to Hindus.
Three horizontal strips of saffron, white, and green, with a springing tiger in the centre.
Proposed flags
Flag
Date
Use
Description
1902
Design reported in the Daily Express to have been proposed as part of a series of Empire flags that would replace the Union Jack in representing individual territories of the British Empire[22]
The Cross of Saint George and the crown in the canton would have been present on all Empire flags to represent the English. In the top right would have been the emblem of the territory flying the flag, and in this case, the Star of India. A large sun in the centre symbolizes "the empire on which the sun never sets."
Proposed in 1904, used in April 1910
Flag proposed in an issue of an Anglo-Indian weekly.[23]
Dark blue, green and light blue triband with a purple band at the hoist depicting the Orion constellation. A thin red border surrounds the whole flag.
The Swaraj flag with a small Union Flag in the canton.
1965
Proposed official flag for Portuguese India in 1965. The proposal came after the annexation of the territories in 1961 and was part of a series of similar flags for the other colonies.
Proposal by F. P. de Almeida Langhans. Never actually used.
A horizontal tricolour of saffron at the top, white in the middle, and green at the bottom. In the centre is a navy blue wheel with twenty-four spokes, known as the Ashoka Chakra.
Dark blue field emblazoned with the royal crest (a Tudor Crown surmounted by the lion of England, itself wearing the crown), beneath which was the word 'India' in gold majuscules. Similar to flags used by other Governors-General of Commonwealth realms.
^Around the same time, another proposal for the flag was initiated by Sister Nivedita, a Hindu reformist and disciple of Swami Vivekananda. The flag consisted of a thunderbolt in the centre and a hundred and eight oil lamps for the border, with the Vande Mataram caption split around the thunderbolt. It was also presented at the Indian National Congress meeting in 1906.[20] Soon, many other proposals were initiated, but none of them gained attention from the nationalist movement.
^In 1916, Suraiya Tayyabji submitted thirty new designs, in the form of a booklet funded by members of the High Court of Madras. These many proposals and recommendations did little more than keep the flag movement alive. The same year, Annie Besant and Bal Gangadhar Tilak adopted a new flag as part of the Home Rule Movement. The flag included the Union Jack in the upper left corner, a star and crescent in the upper right, and seven stars displayed diagonally from the lower right, on a background of five red and four green alternating bands. The flag resulted in the first governmental initiative against any nationalistic flag, as a magistrate in Coimbatore banned its use. The ban was followed by a public debate on the function and importance of a national flag.[21]
^Virmani, Arundhati (August 1999). "National Symbols under Colonial Domination: The Nationalization of the Indian Flag, March–August 1923". Past & Present. 164 (164): 175–176. doi:10.1093/past/164.1.169. JSTOR651278.
^Roy, Srirupa (August 2006). "A Symbol of Freedom: The Indian Flag and the Transformations of Nationalism, 1906–". Journal of Asian Studies. 65 (3): 498–499. ISSN0021-9118. OCLC37893507.
