Tamil Nadu's Demand for a Separate State Flag: What the Constitution and the Flag Code Say
On November 1, 2026, observed by the Tamil Nadu government as Tamil Nadu Day, a State minister called for a separate flag for Tamil Nadu.
The demand is not new. In 1970, the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. Karunanidhi, raised it with the Centre. A design was shown in August 1970: a grey flag with the national flag in the upper corner near the pole and the State emblem on the other side.
The 1970 proposal was not accepted. The Centre did not approve it and several other states opposed it, so the idea was dropped.
A related demand from that period did succeed: from 1974, Chief Ministers got the right to hoist the national flag in their state capitals on Independence Day.
No Indian state has an official flag today. Karnataka's 2018 proposal was not approved, and Jammu and Kashmir's state flag ended in 2019 with the end of its special status.
Flag Code of India, 2002
The Flag Code of India, 2002 is a set of rules that tells citizens, governments and organisations how to use, show and respect the national flag, the Tiranga. It explains how the flag should be hoisted, where it can be flown, what must never be done with it, and how it is shown at government buildings, on vehicles and at events. It is an executive set of instructions of the Union government, not a law made by Parliament. The law that punishes insult to the flag is a separate one: the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971.
The renewed call for a Tamil Nadu flag raises the question the Flag Code and Constitution leave open: the Constitution neither permits nor bans state flags, but the Centre has held that there is no provision for one. Past attempts by Tamil Nadu (1970) and Karnataka (2018) were not approved, so any new demand would need the Centre's acceptance.
Federalism in the Indian Constitution
Federalism is a system in which power is shared between a central government and state governments, and both get their powers directly from the Constitution. In India, the Union government handles matters of national importance (like defence and currency), while state governments handle matters closer to people (like police and agriculture). Neither can simply take away the other's powers. India's Constitution creates a federation, but with a strong Centre, which is why it is often called "quasi-federal" or a "federation with a unitary bias".
The demand for a Tamil Nadu flag is part of a long tradition of state-autonomy debates in Tamil Nadu, which also produced the Rajamannar Committee in 1969. Indian federalism gives states real powers but keeps shared national symbols, like one flag, as a sign of the "indestructible union". That is why state flag proposals have needed the Centre's approval and have not been adopted so far.
- Fresh demand for a Tamil Nadu flag: November 1, 2026 (Tamil Nadu Day, as observed by the State government)
- First demand: 1970, by the then Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi; design shown in August 1970 (grey field, national flag in the canton, State emblem in the fly); not adopted
- 1974: Chief Ministers got the right to hoist the national flag on Independence Day
- Karnataka's proposed flag: March 2018; not approved
- J&K's state flag: lost legal standing with the end of special status in August 2019
- Flag Code of India in force since 26 January 2002; national flag adopted 22 July 1947