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Khadi or hand-spun cloth is the only material allowed to be used for the flag, and flying a flag made of any other material is punishable by law with imprisonment up to three years, besides a fine. Raw materials for khadi are restricted to cotton, silk and wool. There are two kinds of khadi used: The first is the khadi-bunting which makes up the body of the flag, and the second is the khadi-duck, which is a beige-coloured cloth that holds the flag to the pole. The khadi-duck is an unconventional type of weave that meshes three threads into a weave, compared to the two weaves used in conventional weaving. This type of weaving is extremely rare, and there are fewer than twenty weavers in India professing this skill. The guidelines also state that there should be exactly 150 threads per square centimetre, four threads per stitch, and one square foot should weigh exactly 205 grams.

The Flag made of paper may be waved by public on occasions of important national, cultural and sports events. However, such paper Flags should not be discarded or thrown on the ground after the event. As far as possible, it should be disposed of in private consistent with the dignity of the Flag.

The MHA has advised avoiding the use of plastic flags since plastic flags are not biodegradable like paper flags and do not get decomposed for a long time. Moreover, ensuring appropriate disposal of National Flags made of plastic commensurate with dignity of the flag, is a practical problem.  Flags made of paper can be used by public and such paper flags should not be discarded or thrown on the ground after the event. Such Flags are to be disposed of, in private, consistent with the dignity of the Flag.

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On July 22, 1947, the Indian national flag was officially hoisted. Its stripes remained the same saffron-white-green, but the spinning wheel was replaced by a blue chakra—the Dharma Chakra (“Wheel of the Law”). The Dharma Chakra, which was associated with the emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE, appeared on pillars erected throughout the Mauryan empire during the first serious attempt to unite all of India under a single government. The 1947 flag continues to be used by India, although special versions have been developed for ships registered in the country.

The National flag of India is a horizontal tricolor of deep saffron (kesari) at the top, white in the middle and dark green at the bottom in equal proportion. The ratio of width of the flag to its length is two to three. In the centre of the white band is a navy blue wheel which represents the chakra. Its design is that of the wheel which appears on the abacus of the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka. Its diameter approximates to the width of the white band and it has 24 spokes.

On 26th January 2002, the Indian flag code was modified and after several years of independence, the citizens of India were finally allowed to hoist the Indian flag over their homes, offices and factories on any day and not just National days as was the case earlier. Now Indians can proudly display the national flag anywhere and anytime, as long as the provisions of the Flag Code are strictly followed to avoid any disrespect to the tricolour. For the sake of convenience, Flag Code of India, 2002, has been divided into three parts. Part I of the Code contains general description of the National Flag. Part II of the Code is devoted to the display of the National Flag by members of public, private organizations, educational institutions, etc. Part III of the Code relates to display of the National Flag by Central and State governments and their organisations and agencies.

Credit : KnowIndia

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