NEW DELHI: PM Narendra Modi, while commissioning the indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant in Kochi on Friday, will also launch the new “Indianised” naval ensign or flag “befitting the rich Indian maritime heritage” and “doing away with the colonial past”, the PMO said on Tuesday.
The new ensign’s design is yet to be made public but sources said the red St George’s Cross that in a way represents the British legacy will be removed. The new naval ensign will also “maintain a commonality” with the Army and IAF flags. The existing ensign is a white flag with horizontal and vertical red stripes, which earlier symbolised the St George’s Cross, with the emblem of India superimposed at their intersection. The tricolour is placed in the ensign’s upper canton next to the staff.
This is not the first time the St George’s Cross is being removed. The red stripes were discarded during the Vajpayee government in 2001 but they were restored in 2004 because the navy felt the new blue-and-white colour combination made the flags flown on warships “virtually invisible” on the high seas.