Pingali Venkayya is a notable Indian freedom fighter who played a vital role in the Indian Independence Movement. He was a Gandhian and also worked as an educationalist, author, agriculturist, lecturer, polyglot, and geologist. Did you know? Pingali Venkayya is the man who played an important role in designing the national flag. Despite being our nation’s pride whose name is unheard by most Indians. He passed away in relative poverty in the year 1963 and was eventually forgotten.
Here are some unknown facts about the forgotten hero Pingali Venkayya, the man who designed Indian national flag:
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1. Pingali Venkayya was born in a Telugu Brahmin family in Andhra Pradesh on August 2, 1878.
2. The freedom fighter’s parents were Hanumantha Rayudu and Venkata Ratnam.
3. Pingali Venkayya education
He did his schooling at Hindu High School in Machilipatnam. During his childhood, he spent his life in different locations in the Krishna district, such as Pedakallepalli and Yarlagadda.
Pingali Venkayya obtained a diploma in Geology from the Madras Presidency College.
4. Pingali Venkayya wife is Rukminamma, he married the daughter of the Karanam of Pamarru village.
5. He enrolled in the British Indian Army at the age of 19
In 1899–1902, he was deployed to South Africa during the Second Boer War. This is when he met Gandhi Ji for the first time.
6. Venkayya felt the need for having a flag for Indians
During the war, the soldiers had to salute the national flag of Britain. He wanted to have an Indian flag.
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7. Pingali Venkayya career
He served as a lecturer at the Andhra National College in Machilipatnam from 1911–1944. During the span of 1924 to 1944, Venkayya researched mica in Nellore.
8. He also wrote a book in Geology titled ‘Thalli Raayi’.
9. For his expertise in Diamond mining, he was nicknamed ‘Diamond Venkayya’, for his study on Cambodia Cotton he was also called ‘Patti Venkayya’.
10. Pingali Venkayya was proficient in multiple languages like Urdu and Japanese, he was referred to as ‘Japan Venkayya’
In 1913, he delivered a full-length speech at a school in Bapatla in Japanese.
11. In 1906, under the leadership of Dadabhai Naoroji, Venkayya attended the All India Congress Committee (AICC) session in Calcutta.
12. Venkayya played a vital role in the designing of the National Flag of India
He was against the idea of hoisting the British flag at Congress meetings, so he decided to design a flag for the Indian National Congress.
13. Pingali Venkayya drafted over 25 flag designs with different importance and associations with Indian heritage, culture, and history.
14. A book titled Bharatha Desaniki Oka Jatiya Patakam which means A National Flag for India was published by him in 1916 that had 30 potential designs for a flag.
15. He worked at the Andhra National College in Machilipatnam from 1918 to 1921 and proposed various ideas to the Congress leadership.
16. Venkayya submitted a flag design in a span of three hours when Gandhi asked him to at the two-day crucial session of AICC in 1921
The design of the first flag was on a Khadi bunting with red and green colors- the red symbolized the Hindus and the green symbolized the Muslims. The white stripe was added to the flag after Gandhi’s suggestion.
17. On July 22, 1947, during a meeting of the Constituent Assembly the flag was adopted in its present form twenty days before India’s Independence.
18. Pingali Venkayya died in relative poverty in the year 1963
According to reports, at the time he died, he was said to be left with no money and neck-deep in poverty. He only possessed a humble hut in Chittinagar built on the land he was awarded for his army service. Reports also suggest that Venkayya’s son Chalapathi Rao died after he had trouble getting him treated.
Pingali Venkayya daughter, Ghantasala Seetha Mahalakshmi died at the age of 100 on 21 July 2022.
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19. Commemoration of Pinglali Venkayya
The first flag and a postage stamp were issued in 2009 to commemorate Venkayya. In 2012, Venkayya’s name was proposed for a posthumous Bharat Ratna but the central government gave no response to it.
20. In 2014, the All India Radio of the Vijayawada station was named after him.
21. There have been several statues of Pingali Venkayya all over Andhra Pradesh.
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