As India prepares to mark its 79th Independence Day, the country is awash in the colours of the national flag, with citizens, leaders, students, and cultural icons joining the fourth edition of the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign.
Launched under the Centre’s Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav initiative, the programme runs from August 2 to 15 this year. It urges every Indian to hoist the tricolour at home while also embracing the message of cleanliness under the theme “Cleanliness is Service.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Saturday, hailed the campaign’s “phenomenal participation” in a post on X. He said that it reflects “the deep patriotic spirit that unites our people and their unwavering pride in the Tricolour.”
Urging citizens to share their photographs on harghartiranga.com, he noted that the initiative has evolved into “a people’s movement” that strengthens the thread of national unity.
According to the Ministry of Culture, more than five lakh youths have registered as volunteers to inspire participation in the campaign.
Minister for Culture and Tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat described it as “an emotional movement that unites 1.4 billion Indians under the timeless colours of our National Flag” and a way to “foster civic pride, patriotism, and awareness about the Tiranga as a living symbol of democracy and independence.”
Home Minister Amit Shah, along with his wife Sonal, on Wednesday, hoisted the tricolour at his Delhi residence in Krishna Menon Marg, calling the campaign “a unifying force that demonstrates the resolve of 140 crore citizens to build a stronger, developed India.”
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also launched a Tiranga Yatra in Lucknow, describing the flag as “a proclamation of unity, a resolve for integrity, and a symbol of sovereignty and pride.”
Chief Ministers of Gujarat and Haryana, Bhupendra Patel and Nayab Singh Saini, also hoisted the tricolour at their residences.
Not just them.
Across the country, senior ministers, including Kiren Rijiju and MPs, have been participating in bike rallies as part of the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign.
The celebrations have taken varied forms across states.
In Delhi, the NDMC mobilised 5,000 students from its Atal Adarsh and Navyug schools for a march through Connaught Place, while the Delhi Traffic Police organised a Tiranga Yatra with 250 school students and honoured 60 citizen-volunteers, or ‘Traffic Prahris’, for their road safety contributions.
In Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda district, the administration distributed one lakh national flags and organised a Tiranga Yatra featuring a 1,508-metre-long flag unfurled by children. In Udhampur, a group of 35 girl students stitched flags by hand under their tailoring training programme, saying they would feel proud to wave the flags they had made themselves.
In Lucknow, the launch of the campaign saw Deputy CMs Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak join the CM at Kalidas Marg.
Motorbike rallies have emerged as a striking feature of this year’s campaign.
In Manipur, over 1,000 riders, including 137 police personnel, covered a 33.5-km route from Imphal to the Khongjom War Memorial. In Jiribam district, a separate rally saw 90 bikers from the CRPF, Assam Rifles, and local clubs spread the message of patriotism.
Cultural tributes have also added colour to the celebrations, in the meantime, across states.
On the western shores, the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) and the National Museum of Indian Cinema (NMIC) have organised a three-day patriotic film festival in Mumbai, screening classics like Manoj Kumar’s Shaheed and Randeep Hooda’s Savarkar. Actor Shriya Pilgaonkar attended the opening ceremony.
And on the eastern coast, in Odisha, Padma Shri-winning sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik created a massive Tiranga-themed sculpture on Puri beach to promote the campaign.
The ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign, first launched in 2021, was conceived to bring the national flag closer to people’s personal lives, moving beyond formal and institutional settings.
This year’s edition intertwines the pride of Independence Day with the responsibility of cleanliness, aiming to spread the message to “every individual,” in the words of the Ministry of Culture.
With Independence Day just days away, the campaign’s reach, from massive public rallies to intimate acts like hand-stitching flags, has turned the Tiranga into a shared emblem of pride, unity, and hope, flying high across homes, streets, schools, and beaches across the nation.
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