(Originally Published on 2nd August 2020 | Original Language: Marathi)
The national flag symbolizes the honor, love, and valor of a country. Held in high esteem within the hearts of 1.3 billion people, today marks the birthday of Pingali Venkayya, the designer of the Indian tricolor. He was born on August 2, 1876.
At the age of 19, Venkayya, in search of work, arrived in Mumbai and was recruited into the army, subsequently being sent to South Africa. During this period, he met Mahatma Gandhi. Influenced by Gandhi’s thoughts, Venkayya returned to India. Inspired to create a flag that could weave together India’s diversity, thoughts, and glorious traditions into one fabric, he, with the help of S.B. Boman and Umar Somani, founded the ‘National Flag Mission.’ He published a book on this subject in 1916.
Motivated by Gandhi’s ideology, Venkayya sought his guidance. He proposed that the Ashoka Chakra should be a symbol of unity for all of India and recommended its inclusion in the national flag. The first flag he painted had the Ashoka Chakra on red and green backgrounds. However, it still did not represent all of India. There were many disputes over the colors at that time. Driven by the idea of having our own flag, he tirelessly worked from 1918 to 1921 to create a flag, which was later endorsed by Gandhi during a meeting of the Congress Committee in Vijayawada.
Gandhi mentioned in his journal ‘Young India,’ “We should be prepared to sacrifice our lives for the sake of our national flag. Pingali Venkayya, who is working in Andhra National College Machilipatnam, has published a book describing the flags of countries and designed many models for our own national flag. I appreciate his hard struggle during the sessions of the Indian National Congress (INC) for the approval of the Indian national flag.”
The red and green colors were symbols of two major religions in India. According to Ramachandra Guha’s records, the red was changed to saffron in 1931. In this way, saffron, white, and green became the sequence, with the Ashoka Chakra on white symbolizing unity, becoming the emblem in the struggle for national independence.
It was decided that the British would leave India, and during discussions on what would be the national flag, the committee led by Dr. Rajendra Prasad recommended that the tricolor, which had been used as a symbol in the independence movement, be declared the national flag. This flag, symbolizing prosperity, sacrifice, peace, non-violence, and unity, was declared the national flag.
Pingali Venkayya, who had mastery over literature and languages, was known by several nicknames. ‘Jhanda Venkayya’ was more popular, while his expertise in diamonds earned him the nickname ‘Diamond Venkayya.’ His proficiency in the Japanese language led to the name ‘Japan Venkayya,’ and his research on cotton earned him ‘Patti Venkayya’ or ‘Cotton Venkayya.’
Despite significant contributions to the freedom struggle and the creation of the national flag, he remained overlooked. He died on July 4, 1963, with his contributions largely forgotten in the pages of history. In 1992, the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh established a memorial in his honor. In 2009, a postage stamp was issued to commemorate him. In 2014, he was recommended for the ‘Bharat Ratna.’ On his birthday, we offer a respectful tribute to him.