NAVAL ENSIGN
NAVAL ENSIGN On India attaining Independence, the Royal Indian Navy consisted of 32 ageing vessels suitable only for coastal patrol, along with 11,000 officers and men. The prefix was dropped on January 26, 1950 with India being constituted as aRepublic. On September 2, 2022 Indian Navy adopted an Indian ensign (Niishaan). This was unveiled by the Prime Minister at the commissioning ceremony of thefirst indigenously built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant at Cochin Shipyard Limted and dedicated it to Chhatrapati Shivaji. Resonant to the ongoing nationalendeavour to move away from colonial past, need was felt to transition to a new design that drew inspiration from our history. The White Ensign identified nationwide with the Navy, now comprises of two main constituents - the National Flag in the upper left canton, and a Navy Blue - Gold octagon at the centre of the fly side (away from the staff). The Octagon is with twin golden octagonal borders encompassing the golden National Emblem