The state flag of Jammu and Kashmir was a symbol used in the former

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, for a total of 36 subnational entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into 800 districts and smaller administrative divisions by the respe ...

of Jammu and Kashmir, between 1952 and 2019, under the special status accorded to the region by Article 370 of the

Constitution of India The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India, legal document of India, and the longest written national constitution in the world. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures ...

. It was a red-and-white flag with a representation of a

plough A plough or ( US) plow (both pronounced ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses but modern ploughs are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden ...

and three constituent regions of the state. After the abolition of Article 370 in August 2019, this flag lost its official status.

History

Origins

Article 144 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, stated that the flag of the state shall be rectangular 3:2 format. Its colour is red, which originally came to symbolise workers and labourers. In the middle, a white plough further symbolises the peasants. Next to the staff, three vertical white stripes represent the three regions of

Jammu Jammu () is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute ...

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

and

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory and constitutes an eastern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a Kashmir#Kashmir dispute, dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and India an ...

. The flag had its origin in events that took place on 13 July 1931 in

Srinagar Srinagar (; ) is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary ...

. On the day, Kashmiri Muslims were protesting outside the Srinagar Central Jail premises at Srinagar where Abdul Qadeer was arrested on the charge of terrorism and inciting public against the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir by Dogra state forces. The blood-tainted shirt of one of the victims was then hoisted by the crowd as the new flag of Kashmir. On 11 July 1939, the older version flag was adopted by the

Jammu & Kashmir National Conference The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) is a regional political party in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir union territory and Ladakh. Founded as the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference by ...

, a political party. On 7 June 1952, a resolution was passed by the Constituent Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir, making it the official state flag.

2015 controversy

The Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, in force until August 2019, made it mandatory to hoist the state flag alongside the

Flag of India The national flag of India, Colloquialism, colloquially called Tiraṅgā (the tricolour), is a horizontal rectangular tricolour flag, the colours being of India Saffron (color)#Political & religious uses, saffron, white and Variations of gree ...

. In 2015, the newly elected

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

members in the

Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly The Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, also known as the Jammu and Kashmir Vidhan Sabha, is the legislature of Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Prior to 2019, the State of Jammu and Kashmir had a bicameral legislature with a ...

refused to hoist the state flag in their offices. BJP Ministers did not hoist the state flag either, as they consider that it is of no importance. The government led by

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

Mufti Mohammad Sayeed then issued a circular making it compulsory to hoist the state flag along with the national flag, stating that "The state flag has the same sanctity and position as the national flag has under the Indian Constitution and other statutory provisions." However, within 20 hours, the state government withdrew this circular. On withdrawal of the circular, the Jammu & Kashmir BJP spokesperson said, ""Our leaders cannot have any other flag on their vehicles besides the Tricolour. We welcome the withdrawal of the circular." In December 2015, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court ordered the government of the state to hoist the state flag along with the national flag on official buildings and vehicles of constitutional authorities. However, this decision was contested by the

and in January 2016 Jammu and Kashmir High Court stayed their decision. Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Nirmal Kumar Singh said that no flag could be hoisted at an equal level of the national flag of India. Other parties alleged that the BJP is trying to impose its nationalist agenda on a state with special status. Despite the stance of the BJP, ministers of its coalition partner

PDP PDP may refer to: Computing and technology * Packet Data Protocol in wireless GPRS/HSDPA networks * Parallel distributed processing in Connectionism#Parallel distributed processing, connectionism * Plasma display panel * Policy Decision Point in t ...

continue to use the state flag alongside the national flag in official meetings. The youth wing of the National Conference also launched a campaign encouraging people to use the state flag as the profile image on their social media accounts saying that "the state flag of Jammu and Kashmir doesn't undermine or take away the protocol or status of the national flag and is clearly provided for in our constitution."

Abolition

The flag lost its official status on 6 August 2019 following the removal of the region's special status through the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution of India and was lowered for the last time on 25 August 2019. The state of Jammu and Kashmir was dissolved on 31 October 2019 and its territory was divided between two new union territories, Jammu and Kashmir and

Gallery

Historical flags of Jammu and Kashmir

File:Flag of Jammu and Kashmir (1936-1953).svg, 1936–1952 File:Flag of Jammu and Kashmir (1952-2019).svg, 1952–2019

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:State flag of Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir (state) Jammu and Kashmir 1952 establishments in India

Jammu and Kashmir Red and white flags