Remembering Pingali Venkayya; The Man Behind India's Tricolour Flag

How One Man Struggled For Years To Design India's National Flag, Giving Our Country The Identity He Always Wanted

How One Man Fought Hard To Convince India That We Needed A National Flag

In the age of technology, information and knowledge have occupied a special space within the domains of the internet. However, when information is being accessed by millions of people daily, there are certain glimmers of data that only get suppressed within the folds of more popular news. As a result of the same, it's become increasingly easy to become disconnected with our own history. As facebook newsfeeds replace textbooks for the upcoming generation, some of our national heroes are not only vanishing from classroom discussions, but they're also remaining unsung within primary historical texts itself.

So where are these unsung heroes? Within the folds and corners we have stopped looking into, perhaps. Or being celebrated in neighborhoods that still remain unheard of. One such man is Pingali Venkayya, credited for putting together the infamous colours of saffron, white and green along with the Ashoka Chakra and creating what we today identify as our national flag. Every 15th of August, we hoist the flag and stand in silence for the ones who lost their lives and struggled for our independence. Born on 2nd August 1879 in the small village of Pedakallipalli situated in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh, Venkayya’s name still remains forgotten and often ignored—not only as the father of the our flag but also as an important contributor to the birth of Indian solidarity and nationalism.

The tale of Venkayya goes back to late nineteenth century—the early stage of Indian nationalism. At the age of nineteen, young Venkayya was inspired by the Sir Subhash Chandra Bose’s call for an Indian army and therefore enlisted himself to fight the Boer war. During this time, he became well acquainted with Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa and became a preacher of the Mahatma’s social reforms and ideologies. He came back to India with a patriotic zeal to fight against the British Raj, which also enlisted him as a pivotal figure in the struggle to establish Indian nationalism.

His drive to design an Indian flag brimmed when he saw the Union Jack being hoisted during the Indian National Congress meeting he was cordially invited to. Terribly hurt, he decided he would do something about this as he believed that India and its civilians deserved an identity of their own. He moved back to his village for five years (1916-21) and studied the flags of thirty different countries. Simultaneously, he published a book, ‘A National Flag For India’, which consisted of thirty different designs for the Indian flag. Post this, he pitched in the idea of India to have its own flag at every INC meeting he attended. Gandhi finally agreed to this appeal and asked Venkaiah to come up with a fresh design of a potential flag in April, 1921. Immediately after this, Pingali Venkayya was named as ‘Janda Venkayya’ and Gandhi even mentioned his efforts to create this flag in his essay, ‘Young India.’

Although, the irony remained consistent and Venkayya lived the rest of his life in poverty and passed away unrecognised in his village with a family that was in tatters. Even today, his village does not have any memorial in his honour. He only received late recognition when a postage stamp was released in his remembrance circa 2009 and a statue was built, along with thirty-three famous telugu personalities in the city of Hyderabad.

With the faith that contributors like Venkayya will be remembered in the future, we extend all hope that the next time we hoist the tricolours at different occasions, we remember the reason why we are doing so and credit all the heroes—both sung or unsung, for the liberty and expression they have gifted us with.

Words: Karan Kaul