Independence Day (India)
Next: August 15, 2027
Tricolours below, kites above.
The story
Where it comes from
India became independent on 15 August 1947, and the day has been a national holiday ever since. Three weeks earlier, on 22 July 1947, the Constituent Assembly had adopted the national flag that sits at the heart of the celebrations: a tricolour of deep saffron, white and dark green in equal bands, with a navy-blue wheel in the centre. The wheel's design comes from the Lion Capital that the Mauryan emperor Ashoka raised at Sarnath in the 3rd century BC.
How it's celebrated
In the morning the Prime Minister hoists the national flag on the ramparts of the Red Fort in Delhi, a 21-gun salute is fired, and the Prime Minister addresses the nation. Schools, offices and neighbourhoods across the country hold their own flag-raising and sing the national anthem. In Old Delhi, families gather on their rooftops to fly kites, many in the colours of the flag, with patriotic songs playing, and in the evening the sky fills with fireworks.
Did you know
- The wheel on the flag, the Ashoka Chakra, has 24 equally spaced spokes.
- Since 2022 India's Flag Code has allowed machine-made and polyester flags, and a flag on a family's home may now fly day and night.
- For weeks before 15 August, Lal Kuan in Old Delhi, one of India's biggest wholesale kite markets, fills with kites and thread.
The greeting
Happy Independence Day · स्वतंत्रता दिवस की हार्दिक शुभकामनाएँ
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