NATIONAL FLAG
The National Flag is a horizontal tricolour flag.
Top : Deep saffron (kesaria) : indicates strength and courage of the country
Middle : White, in the centre of the white band is a navy-blue wheel which represents the chakra (24 spokes). : indicates peace and truth with Dharma Chakra.
Bottom : Dark green : indicates fertility, growth and auspiciousness of the land
- The ratio of width of the flag to its length – 2:3
- Designer of the Indian national flag fighter – Pingali Venkayya (2 August 1876 – 4 July 1963), Indian freedom
- Design of the National Flag was adopted by the Constituent Assembly of India – 22 July 1947
NATIONAL EMBLEM
The emblem is an adaptation of the Lion Capital of Ashoka which was erected around 250 BC at Sarnath, near Varanasi in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
In the original, there are four lions, standing back to back, mounted on an abacus with a frieze carrying sculptures in high relief of an elephant, a galloping horse, a bull and a lion separated by intervening wheels over a bell-shaped lotus. Carved out of a single block of polished sandstone, the Capital is crowned by the Wheel of the Law (Dharma Chakra).
It was adopted on 26 January 1950, the day that India became a republic.
NATIONAL MOTTO
- Sanskrit: Satyameva Jayate
- English : Truth Alone Triumphs
The origin of the motto is well-known mantra 3.1.6 from the Mundaka Upanishad. It is inscribed in Devanagari script at the base of the national emblem. The emblem and the words “Satyameva Jayate” are inscribed on one side of all Indian currency.
In Devanāgarī
सत्यमेव जयते नानृतं
सत्येन पन्था विततो देवयानः |
येनाक्रमन्त्यृषयो ह्याप्तकामा
यत्र तत् सत्यस्य परमं निधानम् ||६||
In English
Truth alone triumphs; not falsehood
Through truth the divine path is spread out
by which the sages whose desires have been completely fulfilled, reach
where that supreme treasure of Truth resides.
NATIONAL ANTHEM
Hindi : Jana Gana Mana
English : Thou Art the Ruler of the Minds of All People
Lyrics : Rabindranath Tagore, 1911
Music : Rabindranath Tagore, 1911
Adopted : by the Constituent Assembly on 24 January 1950
Written in : Sanskritised (Tatsama) Bengali, it is the first of five stanzas of a Brahmo hymn
First sung in : Calcutta Session of the INC on 27 December 1911
Rabindranath Tagore translated “Jana Gana Mana” from Bengali to English and also set it to music in Madanapalle, a town located in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh state, India.
Jana-gana-mana-adhinayaka, jaya he,
Bharata-bhagya-vidhata.
Punjab-Sindhu-Gujarat-Maratha,
Dravida-Utkala-Banga,
Vindhya-Himachala-Yamuna-Ganga Uchchala-Jaladhi-taranga.
Tava shubha name jage, Tava shubha asisa mage,
Gahe tava jaya gatha,
Jana-gana-mangala-dayaka jaya he Bharata-bhagya-vidhata.
Jaya he, jaya he, jaya he, Jaya jaya jaya, jaya he!
The following is a translation of Rabindranath Tagore’s rendering of the stanza:
“Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people,
dispenser of India’s destiny.
The name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sind, Gujarat and Maratha,
of the Dravid and Odisha and Bengal;
It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas,
mingles in the music of the Yamuna and Ganga
and is chanted by the waves of the Indian Sea.
They pray for thy blessings and sing thy praise.
The salvation of all people is in thy hand,
thou dispenser of India’s destiny.
Victory, victory, victory to thee.”
NATIONAL SONG
Hindi : Vande Mataram
English : I Bow to Thee, Mother
Lyrics : Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Anandamath (1882)
Music : Jadunath Bhattacharya
Adoptation : Anandamath (Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s 1882 novel)
Adopted : 24 January 1950
First sung : by Rabindranath Tagore at the 1896 session of the Indian National Congress
Vande Mataram
Sujalam, suphalam, malayaja shitalam,
Shasyashyamalam, Mataram!
Vande Mataram!
Shubhrajyotsna pulakitayaminim,
Phullakusumita drumadala shobhinim,
Suhasinim sumadhura bhashinim,
Sukhadam varadam, Mataram!
Vande Mataram, Vande Mataram!
The English translation of the stanza rendered by Sri Aurobindo in prose 1 is:
I bow to thee, Mother,
richly-watered, richly-fruited,
cool with the winds of the south,
dark with the crops of the harvests,
The Mother!
Her nights rejoicing in the glory of the moonlight,
her lands clothed beautifully with her trees in flowering bloom,
sweet of laughter, sweet of speech,
The Mother, giver of boons, giver of bliss.
NATIONAL CALENDAR
The Indian national calendar, sometimes called the Saka calendar, is the official civil calendar in use in India. It is used, alongside the Gregorian calendar, by The Gazette of India, in news broadcasts by All India Radio and in calendars and communications issued by the Government of India.
Adopted from : 22 March 1957
National Animal : The Royal Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris)
National Bird : The Indian Peacock (Pavo cristatus)
National Flower : Indian Lotus (Nelumbo Nucifera)
National Tree : Indian Banyan or Indian fig tree (Ficus bengalensis)
National Fruit : Mango (Manigifera indica)
National River : The Ganga or Ganges
National Aquatic Animal : Gangetic Dolphin (Platanista gangetica)
National Currency Symbol : The Indian Rupee symbol (Rs.)is an amalgam of Devanagari “Ra” and the Roman Capital “R” with two parallel horizontal stripes running at the top representing the national flag and also the “equal to” sign. Adopted : by the Government of India on 15th July, 2010. Designed by : Udaya Kumar
STATES/UNION TERRITORY AND CAPITALS OF INDIA
| No. | State | Administrative capital | Legislative capital | Judiciary capitals | Year of Est. |
| 1 | Andhra Pradesh | *Hyderabad | *Hyderabad | *Hyderabad
(1956–present) |
1956 |
| 2 | Arunachal Pradesh | Itanagar | Itanagar | Guwahati | 1987 |
| 3 | Assam | Dispur | Guwahati | Guwahati | 1975 |
| 4 | Bihar | Patna | Patna | Patna | 1935 |
| 5 | Chhattisgarh | Raipur | Raipur | Bilaspur | 2000 |
| 6 | Goa | Panaji | Porvorim | Mumbai | 1961 |
| 7 | Gujarat | Gandhinagar | Gandhinagar | Ahmedabad | 1960 |
| 8 | Haryana | Chandigarh | Chandigarh | Chandigarh | 1966 |
| 9 | Himachal Pradesh | Shimla | Shimla | Shimla | 1971 |
| 10 | Jammu and Kashmir | Srinagar (S) Jammu (W) |
Srinagar (S) Jammu (W) |
Srinagar (S) Jammu (W) |
1948 |
| 11 | Jharkhand | Ranchi | Ranchi | Ranchi | 2000 |
| 12 | Karnataka | Bengaluru | Bengaluru | Bengaluru | 1956 |
| 13 | Kerala | Thiruvananthapuram | Thiruvananthapuram | Kochi | 1956 |
| 14 | Madhya Pradesh | Bhopal | Bhopal | Jabalpur | 1956 |
| 15 | Maharashtra | Mumbai Nagpur (W/2nd) |
Mumbai (S+B) Nagpur (W) |
Mumbai | 1818 1960 |
| 16 | Manipur | Imphal | Imphal | Imphal | 1947 |
| 17 | Meghalaya | Shillong | Shillong | Shillong | 1970 |
| 18 | Mizoram | Aizawl | Aizawl | Guwahati | 1972 |
| 19 | Nagaland | Kohima | Kohima | Guwahati | 1963 |
| 20 | Odisha | Bhubaneshwar | Bhubaneshwar | Cuttack | 1948 |
| 21 | Punjab | Chandigarh | Chandigarh | Chandigarh | 1966 |
| 22 | Rajasthan | Jaipur | Jaipur | Jodhpur | 1948 |
| 23 | Sikkim | Gangtok | Gangtok | Gangtok | 1975 |
| 24 | Tamil Nadu | Chennai | Chennai | Chennai | 1956 |
| 25 | Telangana | Hyderabad | Hyderabad | Hyderabad | 2014 |
| 26 | Tripura | Agartala | Agartala | Agartala | 1956 |
| 27 | Uttar Pradesh | Lucknow | Lucknow | Allahabad | 1937 |
| 28 | Uttarakhand | Dehradun | Dehradun | Nainital | 2000 |
| 29 | West Bengal | Kolkata | Kolkata | Kolkata | 1947 |
After the formation of Telangana, as per the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, both states will share Hyderabad as their common capital for ten years. The new Andhra Pradesh Capital City capital is going to be Amaravati, decided by the Andhra Pradesh government in the month of April, 2015.
| No. | Union territory | Administrative capital | Legislative capital | Judiciary capitals | Year of Est. |
| 1 | Andaman and Nicobar Islands | Port Blair | Port Blair | Kolkata
(formerly Calcutta) |
1956 |
| 2 | Chandigarh | Chandigarh | — | Chandigarh | 1966 |
| 3 | Dadra and Nagar Haveli | Silvassa | — | Mumbai | 1944 |
| 4 | Daman and Diu | Daman | — | Mumbai | 1987 |
| 5 | Lakshadweep | Kavaratti | Kavaratti | Kochi | |
| 6 | National Capital Territory of Delhi | Delhi | Delhi | 1952 | |
| 7 | Puducherry | Puducherry | Puducherry | Chennai | 1954 |
