National Symbols of India

The Indian National flag or National flag of India is a horizontal tricolor (tiranga) of deep saffron (#FF9933) at the top, white (#FFFFFF) in the middle and dark green (#138808) at the bottom in equal proportion. The ratio of width of the flag to its length is two to three ( 2:3). In the centre of the white band is a navy blue wheel which represents the chakra (Ashoka Chakra). More...

The song "Jana-gana-mana", composed by Rabindranath Tagore, was adopted by the Constituent Assembly as the national anthem of India on 24 January 1950. It was first sung on 27 December 1911 at the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress. The complete song consists of five stanzas. The First stanza consists of the full version of the National Anthem. More...

The National emblem of India is a replica of the Lion of Sarnath, near Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. The Lion Capital was erected in the third century BC by Emperor Ashoka to mark the spot where Buddha first proclaimed his gospel of peace and emancipation to the four quarters of the universe. The national emblem is thus symbolic of contemporary India's reaffirmation of its ancient commitment to world peace and goodwill. More...

The Royal Bengal Tiger is a subspecies of tiger primarily found in Bangladesh and India and also in Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and in southern Tibet. It is the most common tiger subspecies, and lives in a variety of habitats, including grasslands, subtropical and tropical rainforests, scrub forests, wet and dry deciduous forests and mangroves. Its fur is orange-brown with black stripes, although there is a mutation that sometimes produces white tigers. It is the national animal of both Bangladesh and India. More...

The Peacock, Pavo cristatus (Linnaeus), the national bird of India. It is symbolic of qualities like beauty, grace, pride and mysticism. Peacock is a colourful, swan-sized bird, with a fan-shaped crest of feathers, a white patch under the eye and a long, slender neck. The male of the species is more colourful than the female, with a glistening blue breast and neck and a spectacular bronze-green train of around 200 elongated feathers it is able to expand its tail erect like fan as ostentatious display. The female is brownish, slightly smaller than the male, and lacks the train. More...

The song Vande Mataram, composed in Sanskrit by Bankimchandra Chatterji, was a source of inspiration to the people in their struggle for freedom. It has an equal status with Jana-gana-mana. The first political occasion when it was sung was the 1896 session of the Indian National Congress. The song first appeared in his book ''Anandamatha'', published in 1882 amid fears of a ban by the British Raj, though the song itself was actually written six years prior in 1876. More...

Lotus is the National flower of India. The Lotus symbolizes spirituality, fruitfulness, wealth, knowledge and illumination. The most important thing about lotus is that even after growing in murky water it is untouched by its impurity. On the other hand the lotus symbolizes purity of heart and mind. The National Flower 'Lotus' or water lily is an aquatic plant of Nymphaea species with broad floating leaves and bright aromatic flowers that grow only in shallow waters. More...

The National Tree of India is The Banyan Tree. This huge tree towers over its neighbors and has the widest reaching roots of all known trees, easily covering several acres. It sends off new shoots from its roots, so that one tree is really a tangle of branches, roots, and trunks. The banyan tree regenerates and lives for an incredible length of time--thus it is thought of as the immortal tree. More...

The Mango is the national fruit. It has been cultivated in India since time immemorial. There are over 100 varieties of mangos in India, in a range of colors, sizes, and shapes. Common in the tropical part of the world, mangos are savored for their sweet juice and bright colors. More...