Over 1,500 tricolours sold before and during Independence Day

Over 1,500 tricolours sold before and during Independence Day
New Kerala.com

New Delhi: Over 1,500 Indian flags were sold to mark the country’s 59th Independence Day.

According to sources at the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), the sole official agency authorised to make and sell the national flag, there was a 24 percent jump in sales from the flags sold to citizens still retaining the patriotic spirit.

Compared to the 1,184 flags sold last year, this year 1,517 flags were sold. Whereas the KVIC earned Rs. 3.12 lakh last year, this year, its earnings from the flags was Rs. 3.90 lakh.

According to one source, the sale of flags usually peak a week before Republic Day or Independence Day, but this year, orders were received a fortnight in advance.

After India became a republic in 1950, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) brought out the specifications for the flag for the first time in 1951. These were revised in 1964 to conform to the metric system which was adopted in India. The specifications were further amended on 1968-08-17. The specifications cover all the essential requirements of the manufacture of the Indian flag including sizes, dye colour, chromatic values, brightness, thread count and hemp cordage. These guidelines are extremely stringent and any defect in the manufacture of flags is considered to be a serious offence liable to a fine or a jail term or both.

Khadi or hand-spun cloth is the only material allowed to be used for the flag. 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 as compared to two weaves used in conventional weaving. This type of weaving is extremely rare, and there are less than a dozen 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 woven khadi is obtained from two handloom units in Dharwad and Bagalkot districts of northern Karnataka. Currently there is only one licensed flag production unit in India which is based in Hubli. Permission for setting up flag manufacturing units in India is allotted by the Khadi Development and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), though the BIS has the power to cancel the licences of units that flout guidelines.

Once woven, the material is sent to the BIS laboratories for testing. After stringent quality testing; the flag if approved, is returned to the factory. It is then bleached and dyed into the respective colours. In the centre the Ashoka Chakra is screen printed, stencilled or suitably embroidered. Care also has to be taken that the chakra is matched and completely visible on both sides. The BIS then checks for the colours and only then can the flag be sold.

Each year around 40 million flags are sold in India. The largest flag in India (14 C 21 ft) is flown by the Government of Maharashtra atop the Mantralaya building, the state administrative headquarters.