Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 2, will unveil a new ensign of the Indian Navy at the aircraft carrier Vikrant Commissioning event, said officials as per media reports.
He will commission the INS Vikrant, India’s first indigenously built and designed aircraft carrier.
According to a statement published by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), he will also unveil the new Naval Ensign (Nishaan), doing away with the colonial past and befitting rich Indian maritime heritage.
According to Navy authorities, the Indian Navy would receive a new insignia on September 2 that does not include the Saint George’s cross, which has been on its flag since the British placed it during the pre-independence era.
The sources further stated that the cross symbol was removed from the flag under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government between 2001 and 2004, but was reinstated once the Sonia Gandhi-led UPA regained power. The government cited concerns made by then-Navy officers over the insignia.
Following PM Modi’s approval, President Droupadi Murmu, as Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, will grant her ultimate approval. On September 1 and 2, the Prime Minister will visit Karnataka and Kerala.
PM Modi will make a visit to Sri Adi Shankara Janma Bhoomi Kshetram, the holy birthplace of Adi Shankaracharya, on September 1. He will commission the first indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, at Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi on September 2.
The origins of the Indian Navy date back to the colonial period.
As per information shared on a website of the Indian Navy, on October 2, 1934, the name of the naval service was changed to the Royal Indian Navy (RIN), headquartered at Bombay (now Mumbai).
After independence, with the partition of India, the Royal Indian Navy was divided into the Royal Indian Navy and the Royal Pakistan Navy.
With India becoming a republic on 26 January 1950, the prefix ‘Royal’ was renamed the Indian Navy.
The Indian Emblem is displayed at the intersection of the two red stripes on the Navy’s current ensign, a white flag with red horizontal and vertical stripes. The national flag is placed in the canton.
