The Flag Code of India is a set of laws, practices and conventions that apply to the display of the national flag of India. Flag Code of India, 2002, has been divided into three parts. Part I of the code contains a general description of the national flag. Part II of the code pertains to the display of the national flag by members of public, private organisations, educational institutions, etc. Part III of the code pertains to the display of the national flag by union and state governments and their organisations and agencies.
The Flag Code of India, 2002, took effect from 26 January 2002.
History
Earlier, the display of the national flag was governed by the provisions of Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950 (No. 12 of 1950) and the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971 (No. 69 of 1971). The Flag Code of India, 2002, is an attempt to bring together all such laws, conventions, practices and instructions for the guidance and benefit of all concerned. Advocate B. M. Birajdar said, "The Flag Code of India 2002 permits unrestricted display of the tricolour, consistent with the honour and dignity of the flag,"
The Flag Code of India has been divided into three parts:-
- First Part: General Description of the National Flag.
- Second Part: Display of the National Flag by members of public, private Organisations & educational institutions etc.
- Third Part: Display of National Flag by Union or State Governments and their organisations and agencies.
Construction Sheet
<gallery widths="450px" heights="300px">
File:Flag of India (Construction Sheet).svg|Construction sheet of the flag's design
File:Ashoka Chakra (Construction sheet).svg|Detailed construction sheet of the Ashoka Chakra
</gallery>
General description
{|class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin: 1em auto 1em auto; text-align:center"
|-
! Flag size
! Width and height (mm)
! Size of Ashoka Chakra (mm)
|-
| 1
| 6300 × 4200
| 1295
|-
| 2
| 3600 × 2400
| 740
|-
| 3
| 2700 × 1800
| 555
|-
| 4
| 1800 × 1200
| 370
|-
| 5
| 1350 × 900
| 280
|-
| 6
| 900 × 600
| 185
|-
| 7
| 450 × 300
| 90
|-
| 8
| 225 × 150
| 40
|-
| 9
| 150 × 100
| 25 It was adopted in its present form during a meeting of the Constituent Assembly of India held on 22 July 1947, when it became the official flag of the Dominion of India. The flag was subsequently retained as that of the Republic of India. In India, the term "tricolour" (, Tiraṅgā) <!-- THIS Hindi SPELLING IS CORRECT: PLEASE SEE Wikipedia:Enabling complex text support for Indic scripts --> almost always refers to the Indian national flag. The flag is based on the Swaraj flag, a flag of the Indian National Congress designed by Pingali Venkayya.
Khadi or hand-spun cloth was the only material allowed to be used for the flag but amendment to the Flag Code in year 2021 allowed the use of polyester and other machine-made fabric. 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 .
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.
Display
thumb|upright|alt=The Indian flag and another flag on crossed poles; the Indian flag is at the left.|Placement protocol for the Indian flag with another country's flagthumb|left|alt=Two Indian flags side by side, the first is horizontal with the saffron band at the top, the second is vertical with the saffron band to the left.|Correct horizontal and vertical display of the flag
The rules regarding the correct methods to display the flag state that when two flags are fully spread out horizontally on a wall behind a podium, their hoists should be towards each other with the saffron stripes uppermost. If the flag is displayed on a short flagpole, this should be mounted at an angle to the wall with the flag draped tastefully from it. If two national flags are displayed on crossed staffs, the hoists must be towards each other and the flags must be fully spread out. The flag should never be used as a cloth to cover tables, lecterns, podiums or buildings, or be draped from railings.
The flag has to be flown from a staff affixed firmly either on the middle front or to the front right side of the car. When a foreign dignitary travels in a car provided by government, the flag should be flown on the right side of the car while the flag of the foreign country should be flown on the left side.