India - Political Parties

Last modified: 2003-12-27 by rob raeside
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• Indian National Congress Party
• Bharatiya Janata Party
• Ajeya Bharat Party
• Swatantra Party
• Shivsena
• Communist Part of India
• Communist Party of India (Marxist)
• Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)
• Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) New Democracy
• Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Red Flag
• Chota Nagpur Plateau Praja Parishad (Jharkhand nationalist party)
• Tamil Nadu Liberation Front
• Goa Su-Raj Party

• India
• Index of Indian pages

I don't know when it was first used, but I can confirm that the flag of the Congress Party does still have the spinning wheel in the center, as of the late 1990s. I received a small example from a visitor to New Delhi at that time when I believe they were being waved in support of Congress candidate Sonya Gandhi.
Steve Kramer, 2 April 2003

by António Martins, 11 May 1999

I saw the BJP flag on TV today and there is a small depiction at http://www.bjp.org/. I have not observed these parties too closely but I know that the symbol is usually a simple monochrome pictorial device on the ballot paper for the benefit of illiterate voters.
11 May 1999

Note: flag is usually represented in a 2:3 ratio; this representation from the web is an artistic rendering.
Jaume Ollé, 23 May 1999

from the site. The symbol appears to be called Kamal Darshan (see ALT tag at http://www.bjp.org/index1.html). While they could have called it just kamal, meaning lotus, they have chosen a grandiose phrase, which loosely translates as lotus worship.

Ash Nallawalla, 23 February 1998

From http://www.bjp.org/organ.htm:

CONSTITUTION AND RULES

As amended by the National council at Gandhi Nagar (Gujarat) on 4th May, 1998

BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY CONSTITUTION AND RULES BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY

Article I :

NAME : The name of the Party shall be "Bharatiya Janata Party" (hereinafter referred to as "The Party").

Article V :

Flag: The Flag of the Party shall comprise of two vertical colours- saffron and green, in the ratio of 2:1 with the election symbol of the Party in blue colour in the middle of the saffron portion equal to half of its size. The green portion will be near the mast.

[My comment: I infer from this and the illustration that the total ratio of the flag is 1:3]

Article VI :

Election symbol : The election symbol of the Party shall be "Lotus."
Ivan Sache, 26 January 1999

From http://www.ajeyabharat.com/intro.html:

Ajeya Bharat Party has been founded with the pure and pious intention to establish life in happiness, peace, unprecedented prosperity, equality, health, invincibility, and wholeness for all time to come.

Ajeya Bharat Party has been established in order to create ideal citizens who are steeped in Vedic Ideals, who have the field of all possibilities enlivened in their consciousness, who have command over Riddhis and Siddhis, and who are Indian to the core. Such individuals will be fully knowledgeable, of harmonious consciousness, and free from problems, illness, suffering, and conflict.
contributed by Dov Gutterman, 16 March 1999

The flag is a horizontal tricolour, as in the Indian flag, but with a ratio 1:2:1. Centred on the (wide) white stripe is a sun disk, bearing a face and garland on the forehead, and radiating out from the disk 24 rays, curved clockwise. On the white stripe is written presumably the name of the party in Indian script.

Blue field with a white star in the middle (source: Smith (1975))

Ivan Sache, 06 Aug 1999

from http://www.shivsena.org/feature.htm:

SHIVSENA is registered with the Election Commission of India as a political party. It is a recognised political party in the state of Maharashtra. Any citizen of Hindustan who loves his Motherland can become a member irrespective of his cast, creed, religion or language.

Art. III - The flag of the party shall be a red flag of which the length shall be one-and-a-half times its width. At the centre of the flag there shall be a crossed hammer and sickle in white. Source: http://www.cpofindia.org/cp2.htm
Joe McMillan, 18 August 2003

From the party's constitution (http://www.cpim.org/documents/constitution.htm):

ARTICLE III
FLAG
The flag of the Party shall be a red flag of which the length shall be one-and-a-half times its width. At the centre of the flag there shall be a crossed hammer and sickle in white.

The Indian Communist Party - Marxist has a seven pointed white star in the canton and the hammer and sickle is a bit different. In the logo, the hammer and sickle is golden bordered white with a black shadow over a red background, and the star (five-pointed is touching the upper part of the hammer. But sometimes the star in the flag is missing or is fivepointed. The flag posted seems to be the flag of the Indian Communist Party (pro-Soviet) or at least the design is very close.
Jaume Ollé, 27 Feb 2000

I noticed this report I sent in 2000 seemed to be out of line. The flag with seven pointed star was published in Flaggenmitteilung. I also saw a photo with a five pointed star and without star. I wrote to the party and I received an answer several months ago. A correction was issued in Flag Report 25:

"The executive board of the Communist Party of Marxist India, having received a copy of FR #21, makes it known that the organization's official flag does not contain the star in the canton as shown in the image of FR #21, having just the white hammer-and-sickle in the centre. The star appeared in a photo of the flag taken in a demonstration, a flag that obviously was not of the official model".

This can be because several communist parties have very similar flags and people use an electoral emblem to differentiate themselves, or due to a poor identification, or even because of regional variants. Later I collected more photos that confirm the red flag with hammer and sickle, without star.
Jaume Ollé, 18 August 2003

Art. 2 - The flag of the Party is the red flag of rectangular size, the ratio of length and breadth being 3:2, with hammer and sickle in white inscribed in it in the middle. Source: http://cpiml.org/pgs/partyconst/const.htm
Joe McMillan, 18 August 2003

Art. II - The flag of the Party is the red flag with a white hammer and sickle. The ratio of length and breadth will be 3:2. Source: http://geocities.com/cpimlnd/constitution.htm
Joe McMillan, 18 August 2003

Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Red Flag

Art. II - The Flag of the Party shall be red flag with white hammer and sickle in the centre of one-fourth portion on top left hand corner. The ratio of length and breadth of the flag shall be 3:2. Source: http://www.cpimlredflag.org/doc3.htm
Joe McMillan, 18 August 2003

Of all these communist parties, only the last would seem to be significantly different from any of the others, unless there are variations in the drawing of the hamer and sickle. There are also a Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) People's War and an Indian Communist Party. I found no information on their flags; the first seems to be an underground Maoist group.
Joe McMillan, 18 August 2003