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Indian States

Last modified: 2022-02-05 by ian macdonald
Keywords: india |
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  • Proposed New States
    See also:


    Indian states officially do not have flags of their own, except for Jammu and Kashmir. However, some unofficial flags have been reported:

    • Manipur: four horizontal bands of yellow, dark blue, red and green (very different from the flag of the princely state)
    • Mizoram: the same (or very similar) to Iceland (reported in the Flag Bulletin)
    • Andra Pradesh: green with a map of the state in yellow in the center.
    • Assam: red with two white Gurkhas poniards crossed in the center
    Jaume Ollé, 23 November 1996

    It seems that the status of "unofficial state flag" should be revised. They are more likely to be revendicative or seperatist flags
    Ivan Sache, 16 Sep 1999

    I can remember reading somewhere (a long time ago) that all the commissioners of Indian states have saffron flags depicting the Indian COA (3 lion piller) in red above an inscription of the name of the state in ? language.

    Nitesh Dave, 7 Jun 1999


    Proposed New States

    Even more fluid than unofficial flags for existing states are existing flags for unoffical states: the map "possible new states" gives tantalizing notions in this field:

    • Ladakh: the eastern portion of Jammu and Kashmir;
    • Uttarakhand: that bit of Uttar Pradesh between Nepal and Himachal Pradesh;
    • Gorkhaland: that bit of West Bengal between Sikkim, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan;
    • Bodoland: the neighbouring bit of Assam;
    • Jharkhand: the southern 1/3 of Bihar;
    • Chhatisgarh: the inland half of Orissa;
    • Telegana: the NW 1/3 of Andhra Pradesh;
    • Vidarbha: the southern 1/4 of Mandhya Pradesh;
    • Vindhya Pradesh: the southern 1/5 of Uttar Pradesh;
    António Martins, 28 June 1999


    State Governors' Flags

    [State Governors' Flag] by Nitesh Dave

    Saffron charged with the lions of Sarnath above name of state in Devanagri script.
    Nitesh Dave, 19 Feb 2000

    Summarised from "Flags of the World" (EMC Barraclough 1971):
    During British rule the governors of the following 'provinces' has special flags, "saffron with the Edward crown above the name of the province in English on a slight curve" - Bombay, Madras, Berar, United Provinces, Central Provinces, Orissa, E Bengal, W Bengal. After the republic was declared the crown was replaced by the Government Seal and State Emblem (lions of Sarnath) and the name of the states was changed to Devenagri script.

    The book also comments that this script is less understood than the original English. It does not mention the colour of the emblem or text, whether the text is or is not on a slight curve as previously or if any other languages are used in some states. It also mentions that all Indian flags have the ratio 3:2 (except the air force ensign), so I guess this is the correct ratio.
    Nitesh Dave, 29 Feb 2000

    Bihar Governor's Flag (as example of modern style)

    [Bihar Governor's Flag] by Jaume Ollé

    Source: Flags of All Nations 1955
    Jaume Ollé, 27 Feb 2000

    The maroon colour of the Ashoka lions shown here is erroneous, although the style of text is accurate.
    Joe McMillan, 27 January 2003

    Das (1981) says that on 15 August 1971, it was decided that the President and the state governors would fly the national flag rather than personal flags. This decision was presumably still in effect when Das published his book in 1984. Whether it has been reversed since then I don't know.
    Joe McMillan, 27 January 2003