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Salute The Flag
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To: editor@rbhatnagar.ececs.uc.edu
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Subject: Salute The Flag
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From: gdesai@mahabharat.corp.megatest.com (Gaurang Desai)
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Date: Wed, 29 Mar 1995 09:44:24 +0800
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From ajay@mercury.aichem.arizona.edu Thu Mar 30 15: 12:51 1995
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Resent-Date: Thu, 30 Mar 1995 13:18:40 -0700 (MST)
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Resent-From: Ajay Shah <ajay@mercury.aichem.arizona.edu>
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Resent-Message-Id: <Pine.ULT.3.90.950330131840.423J@mercury.aichem.arizona.edu>
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Resent-To: editor <editor@rbhatnagar.ececs.uc.edu>
Following is the article I downloaded from India World site. I
know this is a 1979 article but I thought I should bring this
out. Look at the lines I highlighted. This article does have
quite a bit of good information but the highlighted lines did
bother me.
India World provides an opportunity for input.
Gaurang
Salute The Flag
C.V. Varad
Reader's Digest (Indian edition) - August 1979
) Copyright: RDI Print and Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with permission.
A FLAG symbolizing the Indian people's aspiration to nationhood
was hoisted in Paris in the early l9OOs by Madame Bhikaiji Cama
and her group of exiled revolutionaries. Widely accepted as the
first flag in the Indian freedom movement- though some historians
believe the "first" flag was actually unfurled at the Parsi Bagan
Square in Calcutta on August 7, 1906 - the Paris banner had a red
band with a white lotus flower and seven stars to denote the
Milky Way; a yellow band with Vande Mataram inscribed in deep
blue Devanagri script; a green band with a sun on the left and a
crescent-and-star symbol on the right, both in white.
Nine years later, during the Home Rule Movement, Dr Annie Besant
and Lokmanya Tilak presented yet another flag; this one had five,
alternately red and green horizontal stripes, a Union Jack in the
left top corner reflecting the demand of the day that India be
given dominion status within the British Empire, the Milky Way in
the centre, and a crescent-and-star in the right top corner. The
rising tide of nationalism quickly made the flag unacceptable. A
call for new leadership brought Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to the
forefront, and it was through Gandhi that India was to get her
first tricolour.
In 1921, during the session of the All-India Congress Committee
at Bezwada (now Vijayawada), a student from Masulipatnam's
National College presented Mahatma Gandhi with a flag of red and
green, the colours representing the two major Indian communities,
the Hindus and the Muslims. Gandhi suggested the addition of a
white stripe to symbolize the rest of India's communities, and a
charkha to symbolize the masses of India.
The tricolour, officially adopted as the national emblem by the
Congress at its 1931 Karachi session presided over by Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel, held no communal undertones. The flag then
unfurled had a band of deep saffron to symbolize courage and
sacrifice, a band of white imprinted with a blue charkha for
truth, and a band of dark green for faith and chivalry. On July
22, 1947 three weeks before Indian Independence, the Constituent
Assembly adopted the tricolour as India's National Flag, but
replaced the charkha with the Asoka Chakra, which appears on the
abacus of the Lion Pillar at Sarnath. "A symbol of India's
ancient culture," explained Prime Minister Nehru in moving the
resolution on the National Flag before the Assembly.
Today, 32 years after Independence, the flag continues to stir
profound feelings of nationalism in most Indians. To guard this
symbol of liberty against desecration by the few, Parliament in
1950 included a section on the National Flag in The Emblems and
Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, forbidding its use in any
trade mark or design unless permitted by the Central Government.
Later in 1971 it passed the Prevention of Insults to National
Honour Act, stipulating three years' imprisonment or fine, or
both, for anyone who, in public view, mutilates, defaces,
defiles, disfigures, destroys, tramples on or otherwise brings
the National Flag into contempt.
Even those who cherish the tricolour, though, may not always give
it due honour because they are unfamiliar with the specifications
of the Flag Code. Not just a piece of bright material, but the
symbol of a great nation, the tricolour must be displayed
correctly, reverently, and according to very specific rules.
The dimensions of the National Flag should be in the ratio of 3
: 2 and the Asoka Chakra should have 24 spokes.
The National Flag may be flown daily only from important
public buildings such as the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha and the
Supreme Court, at border posts, and on the official residences
of the President and Vice-President, governors and lieutenant
governors.
The public may hoist the tricolour only on special days:
Republic Day (January 26), National Week (April 6 to 13),
observed in memory of the Jallianwala Bagh martyrs, Independence
Day (August 15) and Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary
(October 2). The Flag may also be flown by individuals on days
declared for "national rejoicing," and in the states on days of
special significance (on May 1 in Maharashtra for instance, the
day the state was founded).
The privilege of flying the Flag on motor cars is generally
reserved for selected dignitaries: the President and
Vice-President, governors and lieutenant governors, the Prime
Minister and other ministers, speakers, chief justices and heads
of Indian missions abroad.
The Flag should be hoisted at sunrise and lowered at sunset.
It may be displayed after sunset only on very special
occasions. It should be raised briskly and lowered slowly and
ceremoniously. No other flag or bunting should fly above the
tricolour and none beside it, except for the UN flag and other
national flags which may be hung to the left. No flowers,
garlands or emblems may be placed on the flagmast, nor any
other flag flown on the same pole.
The Flag should not be dipped in salute to any person, no
matter how exalted; or to any edifice or object, no matter how
sacred.
The Flag should not be allow ed to touch the ground or trail in
water. It should flutter freely.
The tricolour may not be used or displayed as a festoon,
rosette, bunting, curtain, tablecloth or drapery and pieces of
coloured cloth should not be arranged so as to look like it.
It should not be used as part of a costume or uniform,
embroidered on cushions and handkerchiefs, or printed on napkins
and boxes. Lettering of any kind is not allowed on the Flag.
Its use in advertisements is prohibited except when allowed by
the government.
When the Flag is worn out or faded, it should not be
displayed. Once torn, it should not be mended and used again. A
damaged Flag must be burnt or otherwise destroyed in a manner
befitting its dignity.
On the death of a notable, whether Indian or foreign, the Flag is
flown at half-mast only on buildings where it is permitted to be
flown daily; on days when the Flag is being flown by all the
people, it can be half-masted only on the building where the
body of the deceased is lying.
Like a child, our Flag was born out of love -love of country -
and has become dearer for the many and great sacrifices made for
it. Long may it wave!
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