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Do or Die: The Flag of August 1942

A raised fist painted in the Indian tricolour — saffron hand, white and green forearm with the Ashoka Chakra at the wrist

Gowalia Tank, 9 August 1942

The gallery closes on a fist in the flag’s colours — defiance and the tricolour fused into one gesture. History supplies the exact morning this image remembers.

On 8 August 1942 the Quit India movement began with Gandhi’s call of Do or Die; by dawn the leaders were in prison. The next morning, 9 August, Aruna Asaf Ali walked into Gowalia Tank Maidan in Bombay and hoisted the national flag before the crowd, ban and batons notwithstanding — the tricolour raised precisely when raising it cost the most. Every easy hoisting since, including all sixty-eight pictures of this gallery, stands in that morning’s debt.

Frequently asked questions

Who hoisted the flag during the Quit India movement?

Aruna Asaf Ali — at Gowalia Tank Maidan, Bombay, on 9 August 1942, after the movement’s leaders had been arrested.

What was the Quit India call?

Do or Die — Gandhi’s call of 8 August 1942, launching the final mass movement for freedom.

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