Karnataka is soon to have its own flag, with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah unveiling the “Naada Dwaja” in Bengaluru on Thursday. The flag with red, white and yellow colours has the state emblem, ganda bherunda, in the middle.
The Congress government in the state had set up a nine-member committee in 2017 to design the flag. The committee headed by Kannada Development Authority (KDA) chairman S.G. Siddaramaiah submitted the design to the chief minister on Thursday morning.
Quoting certain sources, reports suggest that the yellow colour in the flag symbolises forgiveness, white stands for peace and red for bravery. The state emblem of Karnataka has the Sarnath lion symbol on the top and the red shield with the ganda barunda at the bottom. On either side are two lion-elephants.
Though the Karnataka cabinet gave its approval to the flag, it faces a major hurdle at the Centre where the Bharatiya Janata Party is in power. The saffron party had strongly opposed the state flag idea when it was in power in Karnataka, saying it would be against the unity and integrity of the country.
Siddaramaiah, however, defended the flag and said there was nothing unconstitutional in it. “Kannada flag is not unconstitutional. It is not barred by the Constitution. The only thing is we have to hoist it below the national flag, which we will anyway do. We will send the design to the Centre. Hope they approve it. There has been a long pending demand for it. I am happy that we finally have a Kannada Baavuta (Kannada Flag)," the chief minister was quoted as saying by the News 18.
The BJP has not made any statements over the new developments. It is believed that the party fears that any move against the flag will lead it to be branded as anti-Kannada and would affect its election prospects, especially when the state is going to Assembly polls in a few months.