The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India (GoI), has amended the Flag Code of India 2002, to allow the tricolour to be displayed in open and on individual houses or buildings throughout the day and night.
- Previously, the Flag could only be hoisted between sunrise and sunset.
Backdrop
The decision comes as the GoI sets to launch the “Har Ghar Tiranga” (Flag hoisting in every home) campaign from August 13-15, 2022, as part of the “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.”
- The Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav is being celebrated in 2022 to commemorate 75 years of Independent India.
- The ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign encourages citizens to hoist the National Flag in their houses from August 13-15, 2022.
Flag Code of India, 2002
i. The Flag Code of India, 2002, and the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, govern the display, hoisting, and use of the Indian National Flag.
ii.The Flag Code of India 2002 has been divided into 3 parts for convenience, including:
- Part – I: General Description of the National Flag
- Part – II: Display of the National Flag by members if public, private organizations, educational institutions etc.,
- Part – III: Display of the National Flag by Central and State Governments and their organizations and agencies.
Recent Amendments Made in 2021 & 2022
i. The Flag Code of India, 2002 has been further amended through an order on July, 20, 2022 and clause (xi) of paragraph 2.2 of Part-II of the Flag Code of India, 2002 shall now be read as under: – (xi) “where the Flag is displayed in open or displayed on the house of a member of public, it may be flown day and night”.
- Clause XI earlier read, “where the flag is displayed in the open, it should, as far as possible, be flown from sunrise to sunset, irrespective of weather conditions”.
ii.The Flag Code of India, 2002 was previously amended on December 30, 2021, allowing the use of polyester in addition to cotton, wool, silk, and khadi for hand-spun, hand-woven, and machine-made Flags.
- According to the 2021 amendment, paragraph 1.2 of Part-I of the Flag Code of India, 2002 shall now be read as under: 1.2. “The National Flag shall be made of hand spun and hand woven or machine made, cotton/poly/wool/silk khadi bunting.”
- Previously, polyester and machine-made Flags were prohibited from use.
Outcome of the Amendment
i. The Flag may now be hoisted by a member of the public, a private organisation, or an educational institution on all days and occasions, whether ceremonial or otherwise consistent with dignity and honour of the National Flag.
ii.The National Flag may now remain hoisted throughout the night if it is displayed in the open.
iii. Ajay Bhalla, the Union Home Secretary, has given the secretaries of all central ministries and departments instructions to make sure that these are widely distributed across the various organizations and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) that fall under their administrative control.
About the National flag of India
The flag was proposed at the Constituent Assembly on 22 July 1947 as a horizontal tricolour of deep saffron, white and dark green.
- It served as the national flag of the Dominion of India between 15 August 1947 and 26 January 1950, and from that time it has served as the flag of the Republic of India .
- The flag is based on the Swaraj flag, a flag of the Indian National Congress designed by Pingali Venkayya.
Protocols of National flag of India :-
- The colour of the top panel shall be India saffron (Kesari) and that of the bottom panel shall be India green. The middle panel shall be white, bearing at its centre the design of Ashoka Chakra in navy blue colour with 24 equally spaced spokes.
- The National flag should be in rectangular in Shape.
- The ratio of the length to the height(width) of the flag shall be 3:2 .All three horizontal bands of the flag (saffron, white and green) are equally sized.
- In India, the term “tricolour” (Hindi: तिरंगा, Tiraṅgā) almost always refers to the Indian national flag.
Recent Related News:
i. As a part of the ‘AzadiKaAmrit Mahotsav (AKAM)’, an Iconic Week Celebrations of the Ministry of Finance (FinMin) and Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) were held from June 6-12, 2022, at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, Delhi. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister (PM) of India Narendra Modi.
- Iconic Week Celebrations of the Ministry of Finance (FinMin) and Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) was held under the theme of “Transforming Lives”.
ii.The PM also launched a special series of coins of Re 1, Rs. 2, 5, 10 and 20 denominations having AKAM design. They are not commemorative coins and will be part of circulation.
- These special series of coins will have the theme of the logo of AKAM.
About Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA):
Union Minister – Amit Shah (Gandhi Nagar Constituency, Gujarat)
Minister of State (MoS) – Nityanand Rai ; Ajay Kumar Mishra ;and Nisith Pramanik
