To instil a sense of nationalism and patriotism among citizens, a National Flag, measuring 48 ft in width and 72 ft in length, will be hoisted on a 207-foot-tall flag post at the National Military Memorial, on T Chowdaiah Road on January 23 by New Delhi-based Flag Foundation of India.
According to Foundation CEO, Commander (Retd) K V Singh, hoisting the National Flag at such a great height will make people look at it and feel proud of the nation. The flag pole weighs around 12.5 tonne. The flag is hoisted with the support of iron rope and remote control which takes only six minutes to hoist the flag to such height. The cost of flag is estimated at Rs 50,000. The material used is knitted polyster fabric and manufactured in Mumbai. The toughest part in stitching the flag was the Chakra requiring intrinsic work. The flag weighs 31 kg. The entire project cost is around Rs 40 lakh, Singh said.
This concept of hoisting the National Flag at such great height is known as ‘Monumental Flag.’ India imbibed this concept from other countries such as North Korea, Brazil, Jordan, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Turkmenistan and Malaysia. The special feature of ‘monumental flags’ is they are never lowered at the sunset as they are adequately illuminated.
This will be the second such flagpost in the State, after the one erected at Jindal Steel & Power Limited, Vijayanagar, off Hampi. Across the country, 10 flagposts of 207 ft height have been installed by the foundation. While Harayana has five, there are two in Rajasthan and one each in Odisha and Kerala. The monumental flag has also been hoisted at Pangong Tso lake in Leh, which runs across Indo-China border.
The plan to hoist monumental flags came into practice following the Supreme Court order on January 23, 2004, which stated that hoisting the National Flag is a fundamental right of the citizen of the country. Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), around 20 days ago, erected a flag pole of 100 ft height under the guidance of the foundation. The work was carried out by Bajaj Electricals as they have the expertise in manufacturing the posts.
