What Changed in the Flag Code — and What It Means at Home
Two amendments in two years changed what a National Flag can be made of and when it can fly. Here is what is actually different, and what has not changed at all.
The Flag Code of India, 2002 brought together the rules on how the National Flag may be displayed and handled. It is not frozen in time — two recent amendments changed it in ways that directly affect what you can do at home.
The first came by an order dated 30 December 2021. Until then, the National Flag was to be made of hand-spun and hand-woven khadi. The amendment widened this considerably: the flag may now be made of hand-spun, hand-woven or machine-made cotton, polyester, wool, silk or khadi bunting.
The practical effect was enormous. Machine production meant flags could be made in the tens of crores rather than the lakhs, which is what made a nationwide household campaign feasible at all. The cost to khadi units that had made flags by hand for decades was real, and they have argued the case for reversal publicly.
The second amendment, by an order dated 19 July 2022, changed clause (xi) of paragraph 2.2 of Part II. Previously the Tiranga could be flown only between sunrise and sunset, whatever the weather or occasion. Under the amendment, a flag displayed in the open or on the house of a member of the public may now be flown both day and night.
Note the limit in that sentence: it applies to a flag displayed in the open or on a citizen's home. It is not a blanket permission covering every possible display in every setting.
Now the part that did not change, because it matters more than either amendment. The flag is still never to touch the ground or trail in water. It is still never to be used as drapery, as clothing, as a covering for a table or a vehicle, or as wrapping. The saffron band still goes at the top. It is still never to be flown in a damaged or dishevelled condition.
And the rule most households have never heard: when a National Flag is damaged or soiled beyond use, it must not be discarded casually or thrown in with the rubbish. It is to be destroyed as a whole, in private, preferably by burning or by another method consistent with the dignity of the flag.
That last provision is the reason this foundation exists. Knowing the rule and being able to follow it properly are two different things — and that gap is exactly what our Flag Exchange programme was built to close.