Pingali Venkayya

Pingali Venkayya (2 August 1876/8 – 4 July 1963) was an Indian freedom fighter and a Gandhian. He was the designer of the flag on which the Indian National Flag was based. He was also as a lecturer, author, geologist, educationalist, agriculturist, and a polyglot.

At the age of 19, Venkayya had enrolled in the British Indian Army and was deployed to South Africa during the Second world War (1899–1902). During the war when the soldiers had to salute the Union Jack, the national flag of Britain, Venkayya realised the need for having a flag for Indians. When Venkayya attended the AICC session in 1906 in Calcutta, he was inspired to design a flag for the Indian National Congress as he opposed the idea of hoisting the British flag at Congress meetings.

Various flags had been used by members of the Indian independence movement prior to the independence being achieved in 1947. Pingali Venkayya designed the National Flag and presented it to Mahatma Gandhi during the latter’s visit to Vijayawada city on 1 April 1921. Venkayya’s first draft of the flag was in red and green — the red representing Hindus and green the Muslims living in the country. On Gandhi’s suggestion, Venkayya added a white stripe to represent all other denominations and religions present in India. Since 1921, Venkayya's flag has been used informally at all Congress meetings. The flag was adopted in its present form during a meeting of the Constituent Assembly on July 22, 1947.

Venkayya was an agriculturist and also an educationist who set up an educational institution in Machilipatnam. He died in relative poverty in 1963 and was largely forgotten by the society. A postage stamp was issued to commemorate him in 2009. In 2012, his name was proposed for a posthumous Bharat Ratna though there has been no response from the central government on the proposal.

Early life

Pingali Venkayya was born in a Telugu Brahmin family on 2 August 1876 or 1878 at Bhatlapenumarru, near Machilipatnam, in what is now the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. His parents were Hanumantha Rayudu and Venkata Ratnam. He studied at the Hindu High School in Machilipatnam. He also spent his childhood in various places of Krishna district like Yarlagadda and Pedakallepalli. He married Rukminamma, the daughter of the Karanam of Pamarru village.

At the age of 19, he had enrolled in the British Indian Army and was deployed to South Africa during the Second Boer War (1899–1902), where he met Gandhi for the first time. It was during the war when the soldiers had to salute the Union Jack, the national flag of Britain, that Venkayya realised the need for having a flag for Indians.

Career

Venkayya earned a diploma on Geology from the Madras Presidency College. From 19111944, he worked as a lecturer at the Andhra National College in Machilipatnam. From 1924 to 1944, he researched on mica in Nellore. He also authored a book titled 'Thalli Raayi' on geology.

Venkayya was also popularly nicknamed 'Diamond Venkayya', as he was an expert in diamond mining. He was also called 'Patti Venkayya' (Cotton Venkayya), because he dedicated most of his time researching staple varieties of cotton and did a detailed study on a variety called Cambodia Cotton. He was a polyglot who was proficient in many languages including Japanese and Urdu