From the Flag Hoisting Ban to Mahatma Gandhi Missing Nehru’s I-Day Speech: 5 Lesser-Known Facts About India’s Independence Day

NEARLY EIGHT DECADES AGO, India gained its long-awaited independence by breaking the chains of British colonial rule after nearly 200 years. The fight for freedom was a long trail of sacrifices, perseverance, and a thirst to break free from the shackles of the Britishers, who expanded their control over the country through the East India Company, beginning in 1757. Thus began two centuries of rule over a country that was once called Sone Ki Chidiya (the Golden Bird). 

The Indian independence movement was a struggle led by many individuals across the country to reclaim what they believed was rightfully theirs. On August 15, 1947, the Golden Bird was declared independent from the British Raj, and after many decades, India is set to celebrate its 80th Independence Day in 2026.

A day that is regarded as a reminder of what we lost and what we found after a continuous struggle for a day that remains a symbol of freedom—here are some lesser-known Independence Day facts that you probably were not aware of. 

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You read that right. There was once a ban on hoisting India’s national flag on private property until 2002. The Flag Code of India once prohibited private citizens from hoisting the tricolour, which was later amended after Indian industrialist and politician Naveen Jindal got involved in the matter. Naveen Jindal, chairman of Jindal Steel, hoisted the national flag at one of his factories in Chhattisgarh, which was objected to by the local administration in 1992. It was his petition that eventually led to the right to display the national flag on any day, regardless of the occasion.

Right before India ventured into a brand-new day of freedom on August 15, 1947, India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, delivered his iconic “Tryst with Destiny” speech at the stroke of midnight. Often regarded as one of the greatest speeches of the 20th century, the speech marked the conclusion of British colonial rule. However, according to various reports, the Independence Day festivities were missed by one of the leading figures of the Independence movement, Mahatma Gandhi. He was reportedly in Calcutta (now Kolkata) when he missed the Independence Day celebrations taking place in the heart of the country, Delhi. 

According to an opinion piece written by Gandhi’s great-grandson, Tushar Gandhi, he was on a hunger strike in Calcutta and was also trying to promote peace and harmony amid the communal tensions following the Partition of India and Pakistan in 1947.

India shares its Independence Day with other countries as well, although the year may vary. The date, August 15, holds significance as a symbol of freedom for these nations. North Korea and South Korea celebrate their National Liberation Day from Japan on August 15 every year, while Bahrain gained independence from the British on the same day in 1971.

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Not many know the story behind the date on which India celebrates its Independence Day. The last Viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten, selected August 15 as it was the day the Empire of Japan announced its surrender in 1945, bringing an end to the war. Mountbatten regarded this date as marking a new chapter for democracy in Asia and thus found August 15 fitting for India's Independence Day.

Another reason behind the selection of the date was the rising tension between the Congress and the Muslim League. Earlier, the date of independence proposed by then-Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Clement Attlee was June 1948, but it was later brought forward to August 15 by Lord Mountbatten.

When India gained independence, the nation did not have an official national anthem, even though “Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata” had already been composed in 1911 by India’s first Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore. The anthem, which was originally written in Bengali, was renamed “Jana Gana Mana” and was subsequently adopted by the Indian Constituent Assembly as India’s national anthem on January 24, 1950.

(Edited by Harsh Pandey)

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