Ideas for a flag for areas under British India were initially imperial ones, rather than nationalist ones. After the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and the later establishment of the British Raj, a representative symbol of the new government was pending. Various designs were proposed for the first Star of India flag in 1863, keeping similar flag designs adopted in other British colonies such as Canada and Australia, combining symbols of Imperial authority such as the Union Jack and the royal crown with symbols specific to the colony in question. [4]
Upon receiving Royal Assent to trade in the Indian Ocean by Queen Elizabeth I in 1600, the English East India Company adopted a flag of thirteen red and white stripes with the flag of England in canton. The flag in the canton eventually changed to the flag of Great Britain in 1707 and later to the Union Jack in 1801. These flags were also used during the Company rule in India.
After the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the British government passed the Government of India Act 1858, nationalising the East India Company and taking over all of their possessions within India, where they would be considered legally a part of the British Raj. The striped banner of the Company was thus replaced by the Union Jack.
While the Blue Ensign was used for military and naval purposes, the Red Ensign was used as the civil ensign and sometimes represented India in international events, notably in the Declaration by United Nations during World War II. The ensign used on merchant ships registered in British Indian ports was the undefaced red ensign.[3]
From around 1885, the viceroy of India was allowed to fly a Union Flag augmented in the centre with the 'Star of India' surmounted by a Crown. It was often used to represent India, acting as an "unofficial national flag", in international events etc. This flag was not the Viceroy's personal flag; it was also used by governors, lieutenant governors, chief commissioners and other British officers in India. When at sea, only the viceroy flew the flag from the mainmast, while other officials flew it from the foremast.
Flag of the Governor-General of the Dominion of Pakistan (1953-1956) depicted with St. Edward's Crown.
The Star of India series of flags were discontinued from 1947, when the newly independent Dominions of India and Pakistan were established by the Indian Independence Act 1947. The newly formed offices of the governor-generals of India and Pakistan used a dark blue flag bearing the royal crest (a lion standing on the Tudor Crown), beneath which were the words 'INDIA' and 'PAKISTAN' in gold majuscules respectively.
These flags were ultimately discontinued when India and Pakistan when they abolished their Dominion status after becoming constitutional republics in 1950 and 1956 respectively.[5][6]
Flag of British Indian Army
Flag of the British Indian Army
Ensign of the British Indian Army
The British Indian Army used red field emblazoned with Star of India crossed by two swords and beneath the Tudor Crown as ensign and a blue ensign with the Union Flag defaced at the canton, and the Star of India crossed by two swords displayed in the fly as war flag.
Flag of Royal Indian Air Force
Royal Indian Air Force ensign
Royal Indian Air Force roundel
The Royal Indian Air Force used the roundel that of Royal Air Force augmented in centre of a star. The roundel is not superimposed on the 'Star of India' as used on the Union Jack and Blue Ensign but some other star. The ensign had a field of air force blue with the United Kingdom's flag in the canton and the Royal Indian Air Force's roundel in the fly.
Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India in 1947 proposed two separate flags for India and Pakistan to be used after Partition of India. The flag for India consisted of the flag of the Indian National Congress defaced with a Union Jack in the canton. It was rejected by Nehru, as he felt that the more extremist members of Congress would see the inclusion of the Union Jack on an Indian flag as pandering to the British. The flag for Pakistan consisted of the flag of the Muslim Leaguedefaced with a Union Jack in the canton. It was rejected by Jinnah, as he felt that a flag featuring a Christian Cross alongside the Islamic Crescent would be unacceptable to the Muslims of Pakistan.
Other flags
Flag of Home Rule
Home Rule flag variants
Indian Home Rule movement used a five red and four green horizontal stripes flag. On the upper left quadrant was the Union Flag, which signified the Dominion status that the movement sought to achieve. A crescent and a seven-pointed star, both in white, are set in top fly. Seven white stars are arranged as in the Saptarishi constellation (the constellation Ursa Major), which is sacred to Hindus. [Note 1]
Coronation Standard
Coronation Standard of British Raj
Anon Cigarette Silk (1915)
B.D.V. Cigarattes Silk
Coronation Standard of British Raj had a Saint George's Cross augmented in the centre with the 'Star of India' surmounted by a Crown.
The ensign of local naval vessels is a usual defaced blue ensign. The badge is a golden lion rampant guardant holding in front paws a crown. It was not a naval ensign, but the Indian equivalent of a colonial Blue Ensign as used on unarmed vessels.
Flag of Commissioners of the Port of Calcutta
Flag
Emblem
Imperial Tobaco Silk (1915)
On 1 February 1896 an Admiralty Warrant was issued for a Red Ensign defaced by the badge of the Commissioners of the Port of Calcutta as the flag of Commissioners of the Port of Calcutta
The badge consisted of two oval shields, surmounted by a crown, within a red ring bearing the words Conservator of the Port of Bombay. The sinister shield has the four quarters of the flag of the Trustees without the blue St George's cross, while the dexter shield is from the 1877 arms of the City of Bombay; a red lion passant guardant, flanked on each side by an ostrich feather, (alluding to the visit of Edward VII when he was Prince of Wales), above three, three-masted dhows, known as pattimars. Bombay was the first city in the Empire, outside the British Isles, to which arms were granted.
Badge of the Viceroy of India (1876–1904) depicted with St. Edward's Crown
Badge of the Viceroy of India (1904–1947) depicted with Tudor Crown
Badge of the British Indian Army (1895–1947)
Star and Collar of a Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India
The Star of India was the symbol of the Order of the Star of India, a chivalric order of knighthood. It was a rayed five-pointed silver star, decorated with diamonds and surrounded by a sunburst having twenty-six large rays alternating with twenty-six small rays. In the centre of the sunburst was a light blue ribbon bearing the motto of the Order, Heaven's Light Our Guide. The motto chosen was neutral so as to appeal to people of different faiths due to the religious diversity of India, with Heaven also referring to the stars, and their light that sailors used to circumnavigate to India. Unlike most British symbols, the Star did not have Christian connotations, as they were deemed unacceptable to the Indian Princes.
1879–1928 Naval ensign of the Indian Marine (later called the Royal Indian Marine) 1928–1947 Naval jack of the Royal Indian Marine (later called the Royal Indian Navy).
^In 1916, Suraiya Tayyabji submitted thirty new designs, in the form of a booklet funded by members of the High Court of Madras. These many proposals and recommendations did little more than keep the flag movement alive. The same year, Annie Besant and Bal Gangadhar Tilak adopted a new flag as part of the Home Rule Movement. The flag included the Union Jack in the upper left corner, a star and crescent in the upper right, and seven stars displayed diagonally from the lower right, on a background of five red and four green alternating bands. The flag resulted in the first governmental initiative against any nationalistic flag, as a magistrate in Coimbatore banned its use. The ban was followed by a public debate on the function and importance of a national flag.[7]
References
^"The Book of Flags". Oxford University Press. Gordon Campbell & Idrisyn Oliver Evans. 1965.
^Virmani, Arundhati (August 1999). "National Symbols under Colonial Domination: The Nationalization of the Indian Flag, March–August 1923". Past & Present. 164 (164): 176–177. doi:10.1093/past/164.1.169. JSTOR651278.
Flag of the East India Company from 1600 to 1707.
Flag of the East India Company from 1707 to 1801.
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