Astonishing facts about India's Independence Day you probably didn't know

5 Astonishing facts about India's Independence Day 

On 15th August 2021, India celebrated its 75th independence day with usual pride to not only mark its freedom from British rule but also to honor the valor of some courageous Indians, who fought for the freedom of the nation till their last breath. On 15th August 1947, India finally got independence from the cruel British Raj, and was subsequently celebrated as "India's Independence Day". It is a national holiday and is usually observed throughout the nation with the hoisting of the tricolor or the Tiranga, as we call it, followed by parades and cultural events. India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru raised the Indian national flag above the Lahori Gate of Red Fort in Delhi on August 15, 1947. It is a tradition that has since been followed by the incumbent Prime Minister, followed by an address or a speech to the country.

1. The song ‘Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata’ (Bengali version) composed in 1911 by Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore was renamed as ‘Jana Gana Mana’ (Hindi Version) and adopted by the Constituent Assembly of India as the National Anthem on 24 January 1950.

2. The Indian national flag with three horizontal stripes of red, yellow, and green was hoisted on 7 August 1906, at Parsee Bagan Square in Kolkata. The first version of India's current national flag was designed by freedom fighter Pingali Venkayya in 1921. The current flag with saffron, white and green colors and the Ashok Chakra in the middle was officially adopted on 22 July 1947 and hoisted on 15 August 1947.

Image Source - Wikipedia

NOTE - The above picture is of The Swaraj Flag, officially adopted by the Indian National Congress in 1931.

Image Source - Wikipedia

NOTE - The above picture is of the current national flag of India, which is Tiranga (meaning tricolor).

3. What a coincidence! Five other countries celebrate their independence on 15 August along with India. They are as follows:

• Bahrain 

  

  Image Source - Wikipedia

  
  
• North Korea 

  

  Image Source - Wikipedia

  
  
• South Korea 

  

  Image Source - Wikipedia

  
  
• Liechtenstein

  

  Image Source - Wikipedia

  
  

4. The Indian flag is manufactured and supplied from only one place in the whole country, The Karnataka Khadi Gramodyoga Samyukta Sangha (KKGSS), located in Dharwad in Karnataka, has the authority to manufacture and supply the Indian national flag. Isn't this surprising? According to the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the flag is manufactured only with hand-spun and handwoven cotton khadi wafting.

5. Even after India's independence, Goa was still a Portuguese colony. It was annexed to India by the Indian Army in 1961. Thus, Goa was the last state to join the Indian territory.

JAI HIND