Pingali Venkayya, the designer of Indian national tricolour

Freedom fighter Pingali Venkayya was the designer of India’s national tricolour.

He was a farmer, a geologist, a lecturer at the Andhra National College in Machilipatnam, and a fluent speaker of Japanese. He was so fluent that he was famously known as 'Japan Venkayya'.

To mark the birth anniversary of Venkayya on August 2, the Central government has decided to release a special commemorative postage stamp on that day. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release the stamp at a programme in New Delhi.

Venkayya was born on August 2, 1876, at Bhatlapenumarru, near present-day Machilipatnam town in Andhra Pradesh.

He met the Mahatma once again in Vijayawada and showed him his publication with the various designs of the flag. Acknowledging the need for a national flag, Gandhi then asked Venkayya to design a fresh one at the national congress meeting in 1921.

Initially, Venkayya came up with saffron and green colours, but it later evolved with a spinning wheel at the centre and a third colour-white. The flag was officially adopted by the Indian National Congress in 1931.