Before the tricolour, there were symbols: A timeline of India's historical identity

India Today

2 days ago

The tricolour in the hands of school children is one of the most common sights on the streets during August 15 and January 26. The tricolour, which is now India's pride, was not always the same -- it took years to come into existence.Before 1947, as different factions were fighting for India's independence, it gave them the chance to design various versions of a flag that could be used against British rule. This journey began in 1906.advertisementBut have you ever wondered what India's great kings like Ashoka, Chandragupta Maurya, Harshavardhan, or rulers from the Gupta Empire, used as a flag? Back then, the boundaries were not like they are today, and maps looked very different from our present-day context. Flags still existed, but in a different form.
They represented empires, dynasties, and authority, and in many ways, symbolised rule over the land we now call India. Over centuries, the land has been referred to as Bharata, Aryavarta, or, in later periods, Hindustan.Today, we explore how the flags/symbols of several empires came to represent this land across different centuries.A flag, in any nation, is a symbol that unites citizens under one visible expression of pride and identity. Historians say that a flag is something that reminds us of who we are and where we belong.
Reconstruction of Mauryan Flag as mentioned by Chanakya (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
Sadan Jha, in his book, Reverence, Resistance and Politics of Seeing the Indian National Flag writes: "History reveals that the flag does not merely act as an entry point in unearthing meanings of political and cultural practices, but also becomes a site where claims of nationhood and citizenship are made, resisted, and negotiated."FLAGS BEFORE THE TRICOLOURBefore the modern idea of a nation-state, flags in India were markers of dynasties and empires. These were the symbols of political authority, military identity, and spiritual alignment.Under the Mauryan Empire, the most recognisable symbol was the Ashoka Chakra, seen on pillars and coins. While no fixed rectangular flag survives from that era, the chakra, as a symbol, was used to project state authority.When Ashoka turned to Buddhism, the dharma chakra spread across his empire as an emblem of moral and administrative unity.The Guptas, who presided over a classical age of learning and administration, used garuda-like symbols on their coinage and standards.Inscriptions and sculptures suggest flags were flown from military chariots and city gates.These were less about nationhood and more about dynasty and cosmology.Similarly, in the early medieval period, the Chalukyas and Palas used flags as insignia during war and coronation.advertisementWith the rise of the Rajputs and the Chauhans, flags began to represent valour and clan loyalty.These flags were often painted with family symbols, animals, or war emblems.The Rajput banner was held high during battles against both invaders and rival kingdoms. It represented honour, not geography.FLAGS UNDER SULTANATES AND MUGHALSWhen the Delhi Sultanate rose to power, flags began to follow Islamic heraldry, solid colours, crescents, calligraphic inscriptions.The Mughals, as successors, brought a more imperial approach. Their banners were recorded in chronicles like the Akbarnama.The Mughal standard often featured a green backdrop with symbols of the lion and sun, combining Islamic symbolism with a claim to universal sovereignty.The Mughal empire, at its peak, unified much of India, and its standard came to be seen as the umbrella under which India functioned, if not fully united.
Flag of Mughal empire (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
However, these flags still signified dynasties rather than collective identity. There was no 'Indian' flag, only the flags of rulers who governed Indian territory.advertisementTHE MARATHAS AND REGIONAL POWERSWith the decline of the Mughals, the Marathas emerged as challengers to imperial rule.Shivaji's rajmudra, his royal seal, was a statement of Swarajya, self-rule. His forces carried saffron flags, a colour later to be found in India's national flag.
Swarajya Flag (AI-generated image)
The Marathas, though decentralised, expanded across the subcontinent, and their flags began to symbolise a Hindu resurgence against foreign domination. Still, the idea of one India under one flag remained undefined.Other regional powers, the Sikhs, the Mysore rulers under Tipu Sultan, and even the Nizams, had their own flags, often reflecting spiritual motifs or military insignia. By the 18th century, India was a land of many flags but no national banner.THE COLONIAL FLAG DURING THE BRITISH RAJAfter 1857, the British Crown established direct rule. The Union Jack dominated the colonial flag, with a royal emblem, the Star of India, marking imperial authority.While princely states retained local flags, the British sought to project a singular imperial image. But this created a vacuum.advertisementThere was still no Indian flag to rally around, and as the nationalist movement grew, so did the need for a common symbol.THE RISE OF NATIONAL FLAG OF INDIAIn 1904, Sister Nivedita designed a red and yellow flag with 'Bande Mataram' inscribed on it.In 1906, the 'Calcutta Flag', featuring lotus symbols and 'Vande Mataram' written in Devanagari, was unfurled.
With horizontal stripes of orange, yellow and green, this flag came to be known as the 'Calcutta flag' or the 'Lotus flag', as it had eight half-opened lotuses on the orange strip.
In 1907, Bhikaji Cama raised a different tricolour in Stuttgart. These were experimental attempts, each reflecting fragments of Indian identity.Between 1916 and 1921, Pingali Venkayya submitted designs combining religious colours and symbols. Gandhi recommended the spinning wheel as a sign of economic self-reliance.But his tricolour, red, green, and white, was later adjusted to saffron, white, and green, to remove religious overtones.The Congress adopted this new tricolour in 1931, with the charkha at its centre.advertisementThough unofficial, this flag became the face of protests, satyagrahas, and mass movements. When Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose hoisted the flag in Port Blair in 1943, it was no longer symbolic. It was a declaration.
Netaji hoisted this flag in Port Blair
FROM CHARKHA TO CHAKRAWith Independence in sight, the Constituent Assembly formed a committee to finalise the national flag. The design kept the tricolour but replaced the charkha with the Ashoka Chakra, an ancient, non-sectarian symbol of law and dharma.The flag was adopted on July 22, 1947.
(Image: Wikimedia Commons)
This shift was more than aesthetic. The Chakra made a historical connection back to Ashoka and the idea of moral rule, a return to symbols that had once tried to bind the land through ethics, not just force.The flag now is regulated by the Flag Code of India. Its usage has expanded over the years. From schools to stadiums, from courtrooms to battlefields, the Tiranga is seen and felt.But its meaning is still made by the people who carry it. Every era has redefined it.The journey of India's flag, from the chakra of Ashoka to the saffron of the Marathas, from the crescent of the Mughals to the charkha of Gandhi, is a history of attempts to say: this is who we are.In Arundhati Virmani's A National Flag for India, she observes: 'A national flag acquires meaning only when it is invested with emotions and memory by the people. Without this, it is just cloth.'
Empires rose and fell, but each left behind a thread in the fabric we now call the Tricolour.This flag is not just three colours. It is a long conversation across time, geography, and struggle, now stitched into a single standard.It still asks the question: who are we? And it still answers: we are many, but we are one.- EndsMust Watch