Surayya Tyabji (1919–1978) was an Indian artist who assisted in creating the current

Indian national flag 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 ...

by adding the

Ashoka Chakra The Ashoka Chakra (Transl: Ashoka's wheel) is an Indian symbol which is a depiction of the dharmachakra (English: "wheel of dharma"). It is so-called because it appears on a number of edicts of Ashoka the Great, most prominent among which is ...

from the

Lion Capital of Ashoka The Lion Capital of Ashoka is the capital, or head, of a column erected by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka in Sarnath, India, . Its crowning features are four life-sized lions set back to back on a drum-shaped abacus. The side of the abacus is ad ...

, replacing the Charkha on the 1931 flag of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

Work

Historian Trevor Royle wrote in his book ''The Last Days of the Raj'' that

Badruddin Tyabji Badruddin Tyabji (10 October 1844 – 19 August 1906) was an Indian lawyer, activist, and politician during the British Raj. Tyabji was the first Indian to practice as a barrister of the High Court of Bombay. He also served as the third ...

designed the final form of the current

. Surayya Tyabji made the first copy that flew on

Jawahar Lal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a prin ...

's car on the night of independence: She also served as the member of various committees under the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

. Surayya Tyabji's daughter, social worker, designer and activist

Laila Tyabji Laila Tyabji (born 2 May 1947) is an Indian social worker, designer, writer, and craft activist. She is one of the founders of Dastkar, a Delhi-based non governmental organization, working for the revival of traditional crafts in India. She was ...

wrote in 2018 that both her mother and her father were involved in the design of the flag, having been commissioned by Nehru to do so, as a development of a design by the soldier, scientist and lecturer

Pingali Venkayya Pingali Venkayya (2 August 1876/8 – 4 July 1963) was an Indian freedom fighter, known for designing the initial version of the Flag of India, Indian National Flag. Apart from his role in the independence movement, Venkayya was a Lecturer#Ind ...

Family and ancestry

She belonged to the Tyabji clan. She was the niece of Sir

Akbar Hydari :''To be distinguished from his son who was the Governor of Assam, Muhammad Saleh Akbar Hydari.'' Sir Muhammad Akbar Nazar Ali Hydari, ''Sadr ul-Maham'', PC (1869–1941) was an Indian politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Hyderabad S ...

, who served as the Prime Minister of Hyderabad from 1937 to 1941, and granddaughter of Lady Amina Hydari, who championed the cause of Muslim women's education in Hyderabad. She was married to

, a civil servant and later the

Vice Chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth countr ...

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University is a Collegiate university, collegiate, Central university (India), central, and Research university, research university located in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Kh ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tyabji, Surayya 1918 births 1978 deaths 20th-century Indian artists 20th-century Indian women artists Artists from Hyderabad, India Flag designers Tyabji family