A Congress MP from Kerala recently raised the issue of Lotus being printed on the Indian passport. Is Lotus the ‘National Flower’? What are the other national symbols in India? Do you know about India’s National Microbe? M K Raghavan of the Indian NationalCongress and representing Kozhikode, Kerala in the Lok Sabha has recently raised an issue during zero hour about theprinting of Lotus symbol on the Indian Passport. The concern raised was that lotus alludes tothe Party Symbol of Bharatiya Janata Party. A clarification was issued by Ministryof External Affairs (MEA) after this was raised in the parliament. It was stated that this is part of the enhancedsecurity features being implemented with the passport and other nationalsymbols would also be included going forward on a rotational basis. However, a debate has ensued aboutLotus being the national flower of India. In this story we look at the variousofficial national symbols of India and also explore other symbols which are theconsidered as national symbols in the larger national conscience. New national symbols are added time to time for varied purposes While, there is no concise list ofNational Symbols, the Government of India has over a period of time declaredvarious national symbols through official notifications & legislations. Fewof the National symbols like the National Flag, National Anthem etc wereadopted at the time of India adopting the constitution, while few other likeTiger was accorded the status of National Animal to create awareness about thembeing endangered species. There are 7 symbols specified as per India’s National Portal i.e. www.knowindia.gov.in which include: National Flag, National Anthem, National Song, StateEmblem, National Bird, National Animal and National Flower. There may be otherswhich are accorded National symbol status by government of India. National Flag The National Flag of India was adoptedby Constituent Assembly of India on 22 July 1947. It is a horizontal Tri-colour flag consisting of : All these three bands are in equalproportions. The centre of the White Band has a Navy-Blue Wheel/ Chakra. The specifications of the Indian Flag areprovided in the Flag Code of India – 2002. The three colours in the Indian Flagsignify the following. The Wheel at the Centre is called ‘DharmaChakra’ and has 24 spokes. It is taken from the abacus of Ashoka’s Lion Capitalat Sarnath. The Flag code of 2002 provides thespecifications about the make and dimensions of the Indian Flag and also thevarious rules to be followed while hoisting it. National Anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana’, composed byRabindranath Tagore is adopted as the National Anthem of India. It was adopted by ConstituentAssembly of India, on 24 January, 1950. It was first publicly sung at CalcuttaSession of Indian National Congress in 1911. The runtime of the full version ofNational Anthem is 52 seconds. There are multiple orders of the Supreme Court aboutthe responsibility of the citizens during recital of National Anthem. Anyinsult to the national symbols is an offence under ‘The Prevention Of Insults To National Honour Act, 1971’. National Song ‘Vande Mataram’ is adopted from BankimchandraChatterjee’s famous novel Anand Math. It was first sung during 1896 session ofIndia National Congress in Calcutta, by Rabindranath Tagore. The song and the slogan ‘Vande Mataram’ becamea key part of Indian Freedom Movement. The first two verses of the poempenned by Bankimchandra Chatterjee is adopted as the National Song. State Emblem India’s State Emblem is adopted from Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka. Itwas adopted on 26 January 1950 by Government of India. The Lion Capital has four lions , mounted backto back on circular abacus. The abacusrests on a bell shaped lotus and consists sculptures of a horse, bull and alion. These are separated by Dharma Chakras. The State Emblem of India is theprofile of this Lion Capital. It shows three lions mounted on the abacus, which has a Dharma Chakra at thecentre flanked by a bull on right and galloping horse on left. Outlines of theDharma Chakra are on the extreme right and left. While, the lotus from the LionCapital is excluded in the Emblem, the motto ‘Satyameva Jayate’ in Devangari scriptis written below. It is adopted from Mundaka Upanishad and means ‘Truth AloneTriumphs’. The government of India, from timeto time issues regulations regarding the use of National Flag, NationalAnthem and State Emblem. National Calendar While the Gregorian Calendar isfollowed in India in the daily life, the Government of India also follows Saka Era along with Gregorian Calendar forofficial purposes including This was adopted on 22 March 1957. Everyofficial notification of the government contains reference to the Saka calendarin addition to the date in Gregorian.