INDIA'S NAVAL ENSIGN
Source: The Indian Express
Context:
The new naval ensign for the Indian navy will be unveiled on September 2nd, on the sidelines of the commissioning of India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.
The significance of having a new naval design and old ensign which bears the Saint George’s Cross will be explained.
Replacement :
- The new naval ensign which will be unveiled in Kochi will replace the present ensign which carries the Saint George’s Cross with the Tricolor in the canton(top left corner of the flag).
- This ensign is essentially a successor to the pre-independence ensign of the Indian Navy which had the red George’s Cross on a white background with the Union Jack of the United Kingdom on the canton.
- The design of the new ensign was not yet been made public.
- After independence, on August 15, 1947, the Indian Defence forces continued with the British colonial flags and badges.
- It was only on January 26, 1950, that a changeover to Indianised pattern was made.
- The navy crest & flag were changed but the only difference made to the flag was that the Union Jack was replaced with the tricolour and George’s cross was retained.
Previous changes :
- A change in the naval ensign was made in 2001 when the George’s Cross was replaced with the naval crest in the middle of the white flag while the tricolour retained its place on the top left corner.
- There was a long pending demand for a change in the naval ensign with the original suggestion for change has come from a flag officer.
- In 2004, the ensign was again changed back to the Red George’s Cross as there were complaints that the new flag was indistinguishable because the blue of the navy crest merged with the skies & seas.
- A change was made in the flag & the red George’s Cross now had the state emblem derived from the Lion Capital of Ashoka in the middle.
- In 2014, another change was made when the words “Satyamev Jayate” were included on the flag below the Ashoka emblem in Devanagari Script.
Saint George’s Cross :
- The Red Cross on a white background is known as the Saint George’s Cross and is named after a Christian Warrior Saint who is said to have been a crusader during the third crusade.
- This cross also serves as the flag of England which is a constituent of the UK.
- The flag was adopted by England in 1190 to identify English ships entering the Mediterranean.
- The Royal Navy adopted the George’s Cross to fly on their ships in various shapes & forms and the present pattern was adopted around 1707.
Other countries:
- Most commonwealth countries retained the Red George’s Cross during independence, but several have done away with it on their respective naval ensigns over the years.
- Among them are Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.
- The Royal Canadian Navy adopted a new design in 2013 which has the Canadian flag in the top left corner and the Canadian naval crest on white background.
- The Australian navy changed its ensign in 1967 and now has Union Jack, 6 blue stars positioned as in the Australia flag, on white background.
- The New Zealand navy did away with the George’s Cross in 1968 and replaced it with a white flag bearing Union Jack in the top left corner & 4 red stars.
- The South African naval ensign has a green cross instead of the Red George’s Cross.
- Pakistan navy has its naval crest on the ensign while the Bangladesh navy has a white flag with Bangladesh national flag in the top left
