India Flag Colors, Meaning & History

India flag
Color Palette
ColorsHEX CodeRGBCMYK
Saffron#FF9933255, 153, 510, 40, 80, 0
White#FFFFFF255, 255, 2550, 0, 0, 0
Green#12880718, 136, 787, 0, 95, 47
Navy Blue#0000880, 0, 136100, 100, 0, 47

The Indian flag is a tricolor horizontally striped flag. The upper stripe is colored saffron, the middle stripe is white, and the bottom stripe is green. In the middle of the white stripe, there is a dark blue wheel of 24 spokes, called Ashoka’s Chakra.

Meaning of the Indian Flag

The top stripe in the Indian flag is of Saffron color, indicating the strength and courage of the country. The white middle stripe symbolizes peace and truth. The green bottom stripe signifies the fertility, growth, and auspiciousness of the land. Dharma Chakra features the “wheel of the law” that appeared in the Sarnath Lion Capital made by BC Mauryan Emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century. The chakra shows that there is life in movement and death in stagnation. It symbolizes progress and dynamic change.

History of The Indian Flag

India was under British Rule. It didn’t have its own flag, although different dynasties had banners of their own. Trying to have a flag started after the partition from Bengal. Several versions with red, green, and yellow were designed, but none of these became the national flags of India. In 1916, Pingali presented many designs of the flag to the Congress Leadership.  In 1921, Mohandas Gandhi led millions of Indians in the resistance movement against British rule. He received a flag designed by Pingali Venkayya. The colors of the flag were green, red, and white with a chakra in the middle. Gandhi was fascinated by the idea of the Chakra in the middle of the flag. The flag was modified in 1931 by a seven-member committee that met in Karachi. The flag had a saffron stripe at the top, white in the middle, and green at the bottom. The chakra was still in the middle, but it was replaced with Ashoka’s Chakra. As India proclaimed its independence in 1947, the flag was modified again. The Chakra was replaced by Ashoka’s wheel. It was adopted on 22 July 1947.