India is set to celebrate its 76th Independence Day on August 15. The day will mark the country’s freedom from British rule in 1947. Starting 1757 to the first Independence Day in 1947, India was controlled by the East India Company.
The first struggle for independence is called as the Indian Rebellion or Sepoy Mutiny and it took place in 1857.
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Many freedom fighters fought against the colonial regime to set India free. The country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru unfurled the national flag from New Delhi’s Red Fort on August 15, 1947.
With only two days to go for the Independence Day celebrations, let us relive history and learn about some interesting facts that are connected to Independence Day and India’s freedom.
1. Indian National Anthem adopted in 1950
Before getting independence, India didn’t have any official national anthem. The song ‘Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata’ was composed by Rabindranath Tagore in 1911. On January 24, 1950, this song was renamed as ‘Jan Gan Man’ and adopted as the National Anthem by the Constituent Assembly of India.
2. Indian Flag was first hoisted in 1906
The tri-coloured Indian national flag was first hoisted on August 7, 1906, at Parsee Bagan Square, Kolkata.
The first variant of our current national flag was designed by fervent freedom fighter Pingali Venkayya in 1921. The flag has saffron, white and green strips with 24-spoke Ashok Chakra on the middle stripe. It was adopted on July 22, 1947 and hoisted on August 15, 1947.
3. August 15 as Independence Day was chosen by Lord Mountbatten
Have you ever wondered why Independence Day is celebrated on August 15? While Indian Independence Act got approval on July 18, 1947, the August 15 date for Independence Day was chosen by Lord Mountbatten. He chose this date as it coincided with the date of Japan’s surrendering to the Allied Forces after World War II on August 15, 1945.
4. National song 'Vande Mataram' is from a Bengali novel
‘Vande Mataram’, which is the national song of the country, was part of a Bengali novel Anandmath. The novel was written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1880s.
The song was first sung by Rabindranath Tagore in 1896 and translated into a prose by Shri Aurobindo in Karmayogin on 20 November 1909.
It was announced as the national song on January 24, 1950.
