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The Tricolour in Motion: A Flag Reimagined

Abstract art of the Indian flag — saffron and green waves sweeping around the navy Ashoka Chakra

Ribbons of a long story

Artists have never left the flag alone, and this piece shows why: two ribbons of saffron and green cross like brushstrokes, and the navy Chakra rides the curve between them. Strip the tricolour down to motion and colour and it is still, unmistakably, India.

The real flag took shape the same way — in sweeps and revisions. It emerged across four decades of the freedom struggle, banner after banner refining the idea: the Calcutta flag of 1906 with its lotuses, sun and crescent; the Congress tricolours of the 1920s and 1931; and at last, in 1947, the form that flies today.

Frequently asked questions

What was India’s first unofficial national flag?

The Calcutta flag of 1906 — the “Vande Mataram” flag of the Swadeshi movement, with bands of green, yellow and red bearing eight lotuses, a sun and a crescent.

When did the Ashoka Chakra replace the spinning wheel?

In 1947. The Constituent Assembly kept the Congress tricolour’s bands but set the ancient wheel of the law at the centre in place of the charkha.

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