The Secret History Behind India's Flag

India's flag started with a spinning wheel, and ended up with a wheel of law.

In 1921, at the Vijayawada session of the Indian National Congress, Pingali Venkayya presented a flag design to Mahatma Gandhi. It had red and green stripes, and Gandhi suggested adding a white band and the charkha, the spinning wheel, as a symbol of self-reliance. The tricolour was adopted by the Congress in 1931.

In June 1947, the Constituent Assembly appointed an ad hoc committee to design the flag of independent India. It kept the tricolour and replaced the charkha with the Ashoka Chakra, the 24-spoke wheel. The Assembly adopted the flag on July 22, 1947, a few weeks before independence.

The date printed on every India design in our catalog, August 15, 1947, is Independence Day.

Three bands, one wheel, and a design that changed its center just in time.

See the India Taj Mahal Tee → · Browse the South Asia collection → — or explore the story behind any other country's flag on our free Flag Story Cards page.