Saturday, 05 Oct, 2024
By: Anshul Vipat
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday unveiled the new Naval Ensign (flag) for the Indian Navy in Kochi on the sidelines of the commissioning of India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant at Cochin Shipyard Limited.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday unveiled the new Naval Ensign (flag) for the Indian Navy in Kochi on the sidelines of the commissioning of India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant at Cochin Shipyard Limited. The new ensign consists of a national flag, a blue octagon encashing the national emblem atop an anchor. The slogan of Indian Navy, "Sam No Varuna” (a Vedic mantra invoking the god of seas to be auspicious) in Devanagari is superimposed on the octagon. The golden borders of the blue octagon is inspired by the seal of Maratha Emperor Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
"Indian Naval flags which carried a sign of slavery has been replaced with the a new one inspired by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Till now the identity of slavery remained on the flag of Indian Navy. But from today onwards, the new Navy flag will fly in the sea and in the sky", Modi said at the event. Indian Navy said, "The twin octagonal borders draw their inspiration from Shivaji Maharaj Rajmudra or the Seal of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, one of the prominent Indian kings with a visionary maritime outlook, who built a credible Naval Fleet that earned grudging admiration from European Navies operating in the region at the time."
The Narendra Modi government has been trying to invoke a spirit of nationalism through its various campaigns. The recently concluded 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign is a prime example. The campaign encouraged people across India to hoist the national flag at their residence to on the occasion of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, which indicates the celebration of 75 years of Independence from foreign rule.
CVoter-India Tracker conducted a survey to find out what Indians think about the issue. The respondents were asked whether they agreed that government efforts like door-to-door tricolor campaign and changes in the Navy's flag make any difference to the spirit of nationalism. The results were not surprising. 75 percent of the respondents agreed to the notion while 25 percent disagreed.
Source: Team Cvoter- India Tracker
As the accompanying chart shows Indians across age groups, gender, educational, economical and ethnic background supported the notion. 55 percent youths and 53 percent senior citizens said that such government campaigns invoke a sense of nationalism. The same was seen among people with education and income backgrounds. Around 60 percent NDA supporters and 46 percent UPA supporters backed the government's campaigns.
Source: Team Cvoter- India Tracker
We saw a similar pattern among ethnic groups. 76 percent of Dalits and 64 percent Tribals were in support of the campaign. The support among Upper Caste Hindus, Muslims and Christians was 59, 49 and 91 percent respectively.
Clearly, the data suggests that the government's Har Ghar Tiranga campaign along with changing the Navy's flag made a positive difference in sense of nationalism among the countrymen.
