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Indian National Flag Designer Pingali Venkayya Profile, Early Life, Achievements
Indian National Flag Designer Pingali Venkayya 141st Birth Anniversary On 2nd August 2018: Profile, Early Life, Education, Work Achievements
Pingali Venkayya, an Indian independence freedom fighter, and designer of Indian National Flag 141st birth anniversary was observed on 2nd August 2018.
Pingali Venkayya was born on 2nd August 1876 in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh and died on 4th July 1963 in Vijayawada.
Pingali Venkayya was a firm believer in Gandhian principles and an ardent nationalist. He was also a linguist, geologist and writer. At a young age, he had served as a soldier in British India Army in South Africa during the Anglo Boer war in Africa.
Pingali Venkayya during his stint with the British Army, he had met Mahatma Gandhi in Africa. He was 19 when the meeting took place and formed association Gandhiji which would last for more than 50 years.
Pingali Venkayya after returning from Africa, had most of his time researching about farming and cultivating cotton. He even went on to study Sanskrit, Urdu and Japanese Anglo Vedic School in Lahore. Such credentials also had given him interesting titles like ‘Japan Venkayya’, ‘Patti (cotton) Venkayya’ and ‘Jhanda Venkayya’.
Pingali Venkayya had published a book in 1916 offering thirty designs of what could make Indian flag. Throughout all Congress sessions between 1918 and 1921, he relentlessly put forward the idea of having a flag of our own in every session of the Congress. Back then, he was working as a lecturer in Andhra National College in Machilipatnam.
Pingali Venkayya came up with saffron and green colors, but it later evolved with a spinning wheel at center (representation wheel of dharma and law) and third color-white. This modified flag design was approved Gandhiji and later officially adopted by Indian National Congress in 1931.
At present, India’s National Flag (tricolor or Tiranga) is based on Swaraj flag of Indian National Congress designed by Pingali Venkayya. It was adopted during by Constituent Assembly on the 22 July 1947, a few days before India’s independence from the British.
