Karnataka govt. unveils State flag

Karnataka govt. unveils State flag

Context:

The Karnataka government has unveiled the State flag ( nada dhwaja ) for Karnataka.

Details:

• If approved by the Centre, Karnataka will be the second State to have a flag after Jammu and Kashmir.
• The proposal will be now sent to the Union Home Ministry for approval since a State has no powers to announce its own flag.

Backdrop:

• The government in Karnataka constituted a nine-member committee to design a state flag and look into the legalities of it.
• The State Cabinet had earlier approved the proposal of having separate flag for Karnataka

Flag in Karnataka:

• Karnataka has had an unofficial flag since the mid 1960s.
• The red and yellow flag was created by Kannada writer and activist Ma Ramamurthy for a pro-Kannada political party called the Kannada Paksha.
• For years, there has been a demand to recognise it as the state’s official flag.
• Recently unveiled the red-white-yellow flag has the State emblem at the centre

Legal sanctity:

• The existing legal provisions do not prohibit states from having their own flags
• When asked about the Constitutional provisions for a State to have its own flag, Karnataka CM said there was no bar in the Constitution on the States having their own flag.