National Flag:
- The National Flag is a horizontal tricolour of deep saffron (kesaria) at the top(indicates the strength and courage of the country),white in the middle(indicates peace and truth with Dharma Chakra)and dark green at the bottom(indicates the fertility, growth and auspiciousness of the land) in equal proportion. The ratio of width of the flag to its length is two to three.
- It was adopted by constituent Assembly of India on July 22, 1947.
National Anthem:
- The National Anthem of India Jana-gana-mana, composed originally in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore, was adopted in its Hindi version by the Constituent Assembly as the National Anthem of India on 24 January 1950.
- It was first sung on 27 December 1911 at the Kolkata Session of the Indian National Congress.
- The complete song consists of five stanzas. The first stanza contains the full version of the National Anthem.
- Playing time of the full version of the national anthem is approximately 52 seconds.
National Song:
- The song Vande Mataram, composed in Sanskrit by Bankimchandra Chatterji, was a source of inspiration to the people in their struggle for freedom. It has an equal status with Jana-gana-mana.
- On January 24, 1950, the President, Dr. Rajendra Prasad came up with a statement in the Constituent Assembly, "the song Vande Mataram, which has played a historic part in the struggle for Indian freedom, shall be honoured equally with Jana Gana Mana and shall have equal status with it."
- The first political occasion when it was sung was the 1896 session of the Indian National Congress.
- The song was a part of Bankimchandra's most famous novel Anand Math (1882).
- The National emblem is an adaptation from the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka. In the original, there are four lions, standing back to back, mounted on an abacus with a frieze carrying sculptures in high relief of an elephant, a galloping horse, a bull and a lion separated by intervening wheels over a bell-shaped lotus. Carved out of a single block of polished sandstone, the Capital is crowned by the Wheel of the Law (Dharma Chakra).
- The words Satyameva Jayate are inscribed below the abacus in Devanagri script.These words are taken from Mundaka Upanishad.
National Calendar:
- The national calendar based on the Saka Era, with Chaitra as its first month and a normal year of 365 days was adopted from 22 March 1957.
- Dates of the national calendar have a permanent correspondence with dates of the Gregorian calendar, 1 Chaitra falling on 22 March normally and on 21 March in leap year.
- The Indian peacock, Pavo cristatus, the national bird of India, is a colourful, swan-sized bird, with a fan-shaped crest of feathers, a white patch under the eye and a long, slender neck
- The magnificent tiger, Panthera tigris is a striped animal. It has a thick yellow coat of fur with dark stripes. The combination of grace, strength, agility and enormous power has earned the tiger its pride of place as the national animal of India.
- Lion was the National Animal of India till 1972,Later it was replaced by tiger.
National Tree → Indian fig tree, Ficus bengalensis
National Flower → Lotus (Nelumbo Nucipera Gaertn)
National Aquatic Animal → River Dolphin
National Aquatic Animal → River Dolphin
National Fruit → Mango( Mangifera indica)
National River → Ganga
National Heritage Animal →Elephant
National Game → Hockey
National Drink → Tea
