Karnataka Rajyotsava: Unfurling Karnataka's attempts to hoist an official flag

As Karnataka is all set to celebrate its golden jubilee today (November 1), the state Congress government is raking up the long-standing issue of Karnataka’s official flag with the Centre yet again. Slamming the apathy of the central government on X (formerly Twitter) on the Kannada flag issue, Siddaramaiah, who called Prime Minister Narendra Modi 'anti-federal', marked his tweets with the hashtag; ‘#WhyNoLoveForKarnataka?’

Interestingly, Karnataka already has a bi-colour (yellow and red flag) flag for the past six decades. But, it was Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who wanted to invoke 'Kannada pride' ahead of the May 2018 assembly election by releasing an official state flag on March 8, 2018.

He forwarded a proposal to the Centre to get constitutional validity for the Kannada flag. And that's where the matter stands. The Siddaramaiah government wanted to hoist the Kannada flag below the Indian flag atop all government offices and at official government functions.

However, today, whether it is Karnataka Rajyotsava Day or at a protest against policies and decisions that are detrimental to Kannada land, language and culture, the yellow and red flags continue to dominate the landscape fluttering in every nook and corner of Karnataka.

Incidentally, Karnataka happens to be the first state after Jammu and Kashmir to declare an official state flag for itself. This official flag is a variant of the unofficial red and yellow flag that Kannada organisations have been using since the 1960s to signify love for the language and to fight for state issues.

Legally speaking, there is no provision in the Indian Constitution that allows states to have their own flags. However, Siddaramiah argues that “given the historic importance attached to the Kannada flag in the state, we felt the need to make it an official flag. It is just an attempt to uphold the fundamental principles of the federal structure of Karnataka".

The new official flag, recognised by the Karnataka government, has the original red and yellow horizontal stripes of the Kannada flag that signify kumkum (vermillion) and turmeric (arisina, which is considered auspicious) and it has a white stripe in the middle (to signify peace and harmony).

The Karnataka state emblem is also found in the middle, the Gandaberunda (to represent resilience against the forces of destruction) in blue.

The Siddaramaiah-led Congress government decided to create a state flag after a representation was made by late Patil Puttappa, journalist, writer and Kannada activist. His appeal stemmed from another passionate plea made by a social worker and Kannada activist Bheemappa Gundappa GaDada of Belagavi, who had raised the demand for the state to have an official state flag. Bheemappa made this appeal because the Maharashtra Ekikarana Samithi (MES) objected to hoisting the Kannada flag in front of the office of the deputy commissioner and regional commissioner in Belagavi in 2004.

Taking Patil Puttappa’s appeal seriously, the Karnataka government formed a Committee composed of Kannada writers, artists and activists to design the Karnataka flag and based on recommendations of the Committee, the Karnataka flag was designed and released on March 8, 2018.

After which, the flag went into cold storage with no response from the Centre. To give the Centre its due, it has to go in for a Constitutional amendment to allow states to have their own flags.

Five-decade history of original bi-colour Kannada flag

It is the original bi-colour flag that features in most Kannada movies. Legendary star Dr Rajkumar who made it into an emotive issue in his landmark film Aakasmika, by waving the flag while riding a bullock cart singing the song that went on to almost become a state anthem.

The creator of this original flag was Maddur Seetharamashastry Ramamurthy - Ma Ramamurthy (Commander in Chief of Kannada), popularly known as Kannada Veera Senani, first conceived the idea of a flag for Karnataka, when he headed the now almost defunct Kannada Paksha alongwith activist Vatal Nagaraj in 1965.

It was at Akhila Bharata Kannadigara Bruhat Samavesha (conference) the flag first got recognition and was accepted by the Kannadigas, says Ra.Nam Chandrashekara, noted writer and Kannada activist.

Notwithstanding Karnataka Congress government’s resolve to flaunt a state official flag, the Congress high command, however, opposed the move. They protested, saying that it is against the spirit of the Indian Constitution.

Interestingly, during the tenure of the BJP government from 2008 to 2013, B S Yediyurappa removed restrictions on hoisting Kannada yellow and red flags in government offices, while DV Sadanand Gowda made it mandatory to hoist Kannada flags in government offices, schools and colleges on November 1.

Nevertheless, the Congress and JD (S) coalition government headed by H D Kumaraswamy refused to press the Centre to accord official recognition for the Kannada official flag. On coming to power in 2019, the BJP government headed by Yediyurappa refused to take up the issue with the Centre not wanting to upset the BJP top brass.

Yediyurappa’s protégé Basavaraj Bommai too remained silent and pushed the issue under the carpet.

With Congress coming to power in the state with a thumping majority, Siddaramaiah is trying to revive the demand for an official flag. He is whipping up emotions using Kannada pride and making it a counter cultural narrative to BJP’s Hindutva stand.

In this way, Siddaramaiah hopes to fall back on every issue connected to land, language and culture to counter BJP’s anti-federal stand.

To achieve this, Siddaramaiah recently turned on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and attacked him on social media for his apathy towards the land, language and water issues of Kannada region through a series of tweets. He attacked PM Modi for not acting on the issue, marking his tweets with the hashtag: ‘#WhyNoLoveForKarnataka?’

And, for not allowing Kannadigas to hoist their symbol of Kannada pride - an official Kannada state flag.