India’s flag features a navy-blue 24-spoke Ashoka Chakra in its center.
The Indian national flag, popularly called the Tiranga, is a horizontal tricolour of India saffron, white, and India green. The Ashoka Chakra appears in navy blue at the center of the white band. Its 24 spokes form a wheel inspired by the Dharma Chakra associated with the Mauryan emperor Ashoka and Buddhist traditions.
The chakra replaced the spinning wheel, or charkha, used in earlier versions of the proposed Indian flag. The wheel is commonly interpreted as representing law, righteousness, movement, and progress. Its 24 spokes are often linked to principles or duties that guide an orderly and ethical society.
India’s Constituent Assembly adopted the present design on 22 July 1947, shortly before independence. The flag officially became the national flag on 15 August 1947. A frequent mix-up is confusing the Ashoka Chakra with the charkha: the former is a blue 24-spoke wheel, while the latter was a spinning-wheel symbol connected with India’s independence movement.