Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the new flag of the Indian Navy in Kochi on 2nd September 2021. The St George’s Cross was removed from the flag of the Indian Navy and an octagonal shield inspired by the seal of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was added, with the national emblem above the anchor. And below it is written the motto of the Indian Navy ‘Sham No Varunah’. Earlier the flag had St. George’s Cross with the national emblem in the center and ‘Satyamev Jayate’ written below it.
This change was considered historic as many claimed that it is a sign that Indians are leaving behind all the signs of the colonial period. This was also the topic of debate for many media houses and right-wingers because earlier also in 2001 the flag of the Indian Navy was changed during the tenure of the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the colonial emblem St. George’s Cross was removed. But due to some reasons, again in 2004, the flag of the Indian Navy was changed and the St. George’s Cross was added back.
For this News channels and BJP leaders blamed the Congress, including the UPA government and the then Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.
Aaj Tak’s anchor Sudhir Chaudhary on his show black & White claimed the same. This can be heard in the below video
DFRAC has already debunked many misleading claims by Sudhir Chaudhary:
A news website Jagran too ran a headline claiming the same.
Reddit aap’s page India Speaks and BJP Goa too uploaded a picture with the same claim
Fact Check:
To investigate the claim of UPA government re- adding ‘St George’s Cross’ on Navy flag, DFRAC team did keyword search on Google and came across a report on fandom.com
The report mentions, “In 2001, this flag was replaced with a white ensign bearing the Indian Navy crest, as the previous ensign was thought to reflect India’s colonial past.However complaints arose that the new ensign was indistinguishable as the blue of the naval crest easily merged with the sky and the ocean. Hence in 2004, the ensign was changed back to the St. George’s cross design, with the addition of the emblem of India in the intersection of the cross.”
This clears the reason as to why there was a need to change the flag, but to still investigate was the change because of the UPA government or not, the team again ran a keyword search and found a report on reddif.com which states that on April 25 2004, the Indian Navy will bring back the cross, with some Indian touches.
After this, the team checked when did Manmohan Singh took the oath and became the prime minister of India. And found his Wikipedia which tells the date of 22nd May 2004.
Conclusion:
From the investigation DFRAC found that the claim by various mainstream media houses, sites, and BJP leaders is misleading because:
Firstly, The date on which it was decided to change the Indian navy flag was April 25 2004, whereas Manmohan Singh took oath on 22nd May 2004.So, clearly there was BJP government at that time.
Secondly, the new ensign was indistinguishable as the blue of the naval crest easily merged with the sky and the ocean which raised many complains hence requiring a change.
Claim Review: UPA government in year 2004 re-adds ‘St George’s Cross’ on Navy flag.
Claimed by: media houses and BJP
Fact Check: Misleading
