Mahatma Gandhi made the charkha, or spinning wheel, a central symbol of Indian self-reliance. He promoted hand-spinning and khadi as practical and political alternatives to cloth manufactured under British control.
Gandhi believed spinning could provide rural employment while challenging the economic effects of colonial rule. He encouraged people to spin regularly and to wear khadi, handwoven cloth made from hand-spun yarn.
The charkha became associated with the Swadeshi ideal of using locally produced goods. It also appeared on the flag designs used by the Indian National Congress before independence. The final flag of India replaced it with the Ashoka Chakra, a wheel representing dharma.
The charkha is sometimes confused with a loom. A spinning wheel makes yarn from fibers; a loom weaves yarn into fabric. Gandhi’s program involved both spinning and handwoven khadi, but the spinning wheel itself became the better-known political emblem.