PM Narendra Modi on Friday unveiled the new Naval Ensign of the Indian Navy during the commissioning of the country's first indigenously built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant in Kochi.

 

 

Addressing the ceremony, PM Modi said that with the new Indian Navy Ensign(Nishaan),"India has shed its colonial past". Till today Indian Naval flags carried a sign of slavery which has been replaced with a new one inspired by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj," he added.

 

 

The new Naval insignia incorporates the royal seal of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj replacing the Saint George's cross that featured on the Navy flag ever since the British put it there during the pre-independence era.

 

 

Interestingly, it was was removed from the flag during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government between 2001 to 2004 but soon after Sonia Gandhi-led UPA came back to power, they brought it back citing certain issues raised by the then Navy officials.

 

The elements of the new Indian Navy flag consist of the national flag (tricolor) in the upper left canton, symbolising the national spirit of India's maritime force. In the lower right hand corner on the fly side, the Indian Navy's new insignia consists of the Indian national emblem with the national motto ‘Satyamev Jayate’ engraved in Devanagari script, anchor and Navy's motto: Shan no Varunaha (Be auspicious unto us oh Varuna) inside a blue octagon.

 

 

 

In a statement, the Navy said the twin octagonal borders draw their inspiration from Shivaji Maharaj Rajmudra or the Seal of Chhatrapati Shivaji, who “built a credible Naval Fleet that earned grudging admiration from European Navies operating in the region at the time.”

 

 

 

 

The octagonal shape also represents the eight directions (four cardinal and four inter cardinal), symbolising the Indian Navy's global outreach.

 

 

Besides the ensign, PM Modi unveiled a plaque to mark the induction of INS Vikrant, named after its predecessor that played a crucial role in the 1971 Indo-Pak war, into the Navy.