Pingali Venkayya

Born: 2 August 1876

Died: 4 July 1963

• He was an Indian freedom fighter and the designer of the flag on which the Indian national flag was based.
• He was born at Bhatlapenumarru, near Machilipatnam, in what is now the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
• Various so-called national flags had been used by members of the Indian independence movement prior to independence being achieved in 1947.
• His version was first designed for the Indian National Congress and subsequently modified in 1947.
• According to The Hindu, “Pingali Venkayya was an authority in geology, agriculture and also an educationist who set up an educational institution in Machilipatnam.
• He, however, died in poverty in 1963 and was largely forgotten by the society and by his own party, the Congress.”
• A postage stamp was issued to commemorate him in 2009 and in 2011 it was proposed that he be posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna.
• The outcome of that proposal is not known.

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