Shivraj Singh Chouhan pays tribute to Tiranga designer Pingali Venkayya
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
On the birth anniversary of the man who gave India its flag, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan offered his tribute on Sunday, 2 August 2026 to Pingali Venkayya — the freedom fighter whose design became the soul of a nation.
In a post in Hindi, Chouhan wrote: 'भारत की एकता, अखंडता और गौरव के प्रतीक, राष्ट्रीय ध्वज 'तिरंगा' के अभिकल्पक, महान स्वाधीनता संग्राम सेनानी पिंगली वेंकैया जी की जयंती पर कोटि-कोटि नमन करता हूँ!' — 'I offer a million salutes to Pingali Venkayya ji, the great freedom fighter and designer of the Tiranga, on his birth anniversary.' He added that Venkayya would 'live forever in the hearts of the people of this country through his unparalleled creation that binds the nation in the thread of unity.'
The man behind the Tiranga
Pingali Venkayya was an independence-era freedom fighter who presented a flag design in 1921 that would eventually, after modifications, be adopted as India's national flag on 22 July 1947 by the Constituent Assembly. The tricolour — saffron, white, and green, with the Ashoka Chakra at its centre — has since stood as the defining symbol of the republic's unity, integrity, and sovereignty.
Venkayya's contribution was not merely artistic. At a time when the independence movement needed a unifying emblem, his design gave millions of Indians something to rally around — a visual covenant between the people and the idea of a free nation.
A tribute in step with Independence Day season
Chouhan's post arrives in the fortnight leading up to Independence Day on 15 August, a period when tributes to freedom-era figures intensify across the political spectrum. For senior BJP leaders, honouring such figures is also a way of anchoring the party's national-unity narrative to the legacy of the freedom struggle. The tribute is warm, brief, and entirely in step with the season — a moment to remember the hands that stitched the flag before the nation gathers to salute it.