Har Ghar Tiranga Campaign

The government is expecting costs of the tricolour to come down as a result of the change made to the Flag Code of India 2002. The change allows machine-made polyester, other than hand-spun and handwoven khadi, to be used in the production of the national flag.

The change to the Flag Code is expected to provide a fillip to the government’s ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ mass campaign.

What is ‘Har Ghar Tiranga Campaign’?

• This campaign is scheduled to be launched on August 15, 2022, under which people will be encouraged to hoist the national flag over their houses.
• It is aimed at invoking feelings of pride and patriotism among people and promoting awareness about the Indian flag.
• This campaign is part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav and is targeting the sale and hoisting of at least 20 crore national flags across the country.
• Flag-making is expected to pick up on a mass scale at self-help groups that had pitched in with making masks and PPE kits during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Historical background –

• The first national flag is said to have been hoisted on August 7, 1906, at the Parsee Bagan Square, near Lower Circular Road, in Calcutta (now Kolkata). It consisted of three horizontal stripes of red, yellow and green.
• Later, in 1921, freedom fighter Pingali Venkayya met Mahatma Gandhi and proposed a basic design of the flag, consisting of two red and green bands.
• After undergoing several changes, the Tricolour was adopted as our national flag at a Congress Committee meeting in Karachi in 1931.

Regulations governing display of National Flag –

• The earliest rules for the display of the national flag were originally governed by the provisions of —
  • • The Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950 and
    • The Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971.
• In 2002, the Flag Code of India came into effect which allowed the unrestricted display of the Tricolour as long as the honour and dignity of the flag were being respected.
  • • The flag code did not replace the pre-existing rules governing the correct display of the flag.
    • It was, however, an effort to bring together all the previous laws, conventions and practices.
• For the sake of convenience, Flag Code of India, 2002, has been divided into three parts —
  • • a general description of the tricolour;
    • rules on display of the flag by public and private bodies and educational institutions; and
    • rules for display of the flag by governments and government bodies.
• In December 2021, amendment was made to the Flag code 2002.
  • • Earlier, as per section 1.2 of Flag code only flags made of hand spun and hand-woven khadi were permitted to be used.
    • The amendment to the Flag Code, however, says the national flag can now be made of “hand spun and hand woven or machine-made, cotton, polyester, wool, silk khadi bunting.

Common flag code violations –

• Section 3.22 of the Flag Code reads: “The Flag shall not be used as a drapery in any form whatsoever except in State/Military/Central Paramilitary Forces funerals hereinafter provided.”
• The flag can only be used during a funeral if it is accorded the status of a state funeral.
• Apart from police and armed forces, state funerals are held when people who are holding or have held office of President, Vice-President, Prime Minister, Cabinet Minister, Chief Minister pass away.