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Posts Tagged ‘Satyameva Jayate’

Happy Independence Day

August 15th, 2008 No comments

I wish all the Indians all over the world a very happy independence Day… Long live India .. long live the Indian Freedom !

‘The Indian flag is a horizontal tricolor in equal proportion of deep saffron on the top, white in the middle and dark green at the bottom. The ratio of the width to the length of the flag is two is to three. In the centre of the white band, there is a wheel in navy blue to indicate the Dharma Chakra, the wheel of law in the Sarnath Lion Capital. This center symbol or the ‘CHAKRA’ is a symbol dating back to 2nd century BC. Its diameter approximates the width of the white band and it has 24 spokes, which intends to show that there is life in movement and death in stagnation. The saffron stands for courage and sacrifice; the white, for purity and truth; the green for growth and auspiciousness.

The Constituent Assembly which drew up the Constitution of India, adopted, on 22 July 1947, the tricolor as Independent India’s National Flag. After a debate, the Dharma Chakra (of Emperor Ashoka) was included in the central white stripe of the flag, instead of the Charka (used symbolically by Gandhiji and also included in the flag used by the Indian National Congress). The same Chakra adorns the State Emblem adapted from the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka in addition to the motto from the Mundaka Upanishad, Satyameva Jayate which means: Truth alone triumphs. The Chakra or the wheel symbolizes the Power of the State governed by Dharma, which is the primordial Indian system of justice which is the bed-rock, not only of governance but of the socio-politico-economic edifice itself.’ Brinda Maindiratta, 2 April 2003
The following is an extract from the preamble to the flag code of India as posted on the official Home Ministry website of the Indian government:

The significance of the colours and the chakra in the National Flag was amply described by Dr. S. Radhakrishnan in the Constituent Assembly which unanimously adopted the National Flag. Dr. S. Radhakrishnan explained -

  1. “Bhagwa or the saffron colour denotes renunciation of disinterestedness. Our leaders must be indifferent to material gains and dedicate themselves to their work.
  2. The white in the centre is light, the path of truth to guide our conduct.
  3. The green shows our relation to soil, our relation to the plant life here on which all other life depends.
  4. The Ashoka Wheel in the centre of the white is the wheel of the law of dharma. Truth or satya, dharma or virtue ought to be the controlling principles of those who work under this flag. Again, the wheel denotes motion. There is death in stagnation. There is life in movement. India should no more resist change, it must move and go forward. The wheel represents the dynamism of a peaceful change.”
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