Pingali Venkayya- the real desinger of our Indian National Flag?
Pingali Venkayya (2 August 1878-4 July 1963) was an Indian freedom fighter and the designer of Indian national flag. He belonged to aTelugu Brahmin family. He was brought up in Batlapenumarru village near Machilipatnam where he had his primary education. After finishing his primary education at Challapalli and school at the Hindu High School, Masulipatnam, he went to Colombo to complete his Senior Cambridge.
During the National conference of the Indian National Congress at Kakinada, Venkayya suggested that India should have a national flag. Gandhi liked this proposal. He suggested that Venkayya come up with a design. During the National conference at Vijayawada, Venkayya proposed a tricolour with an Ashoka Chakra at the middle. Gandhi liked the result, and the design was later adopted as the National Flag of India. After researching 30 flags, Pingali design a flag that became the forerunner of the Indian national flag. The flags antecedents can be traced back to the Vande Mataram movement.
The Indian flag was not officially accepted by the All India Congress Committee. However, Gandhi's approval made it popular and it was hoisted at all Congress sessions. Hansraj of Jallandar suggested the representation of the charkha, symbolising progress and the common man. Gandhi insisted on a white strip to represent India's remaining minority communities. The colour choices produced controversy as communal tension broke over its interpretation. The final resolution passed when the AICC met at Karachi in 1931. The flag was interpreted as saffron for courage, white for truth and peace, and green for faith and prosperity. The dharma chakhra which appears on the abacus of the Sarnath at the capital of Emperor Ashoka was adopted in place of spindle and string as the emblem on the national flag.
