Archive · 15 Aug 2026
'Vande Mataram' First Played at Red Fort During Independence Day
India recently celebrated 80 years of being an independent country.
At the Red Fort in Delhi, a very special song called 'Vande Mataram' was played for the very first time during the official celebrations.
The song was also played right before and right after the President's speech on the night before Independence Day.
This song is 150 years old, and long ago it helped bring people of many different ideas together during the Swadeshi Movement.
The President thanked great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar for helping India become free.
Now a new law protects 'Vande Mataram' just like the national anthem, so the song cannot be insulted.
If someone purposely stops other people from singing it, they can be punished and even sent to jail.
During the celebration, the Prime Minister raised the national flag while cannons fired a 21-gun salute.
Two helicopters of the Indian Air Force flew overhead and dropped flower petals.
The Prime Minister said it is the first time after Independence that the song was played at the Red Fort.
The full version of 'Vande Mataram' was played for the first time at the Red Fort during the 80th Independence Day celebrations led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, followed by the national anthem 'Jana Gana Mana'.
'Vande Mataram' was also played before and after President Droupadi Murmu's address to the nation on the eve of Independence Day.
President Murmu recalled that during the Swadeshi Movement, 'Vande Mataram' became a song of the masses, uniting people of diverse ideologies in the freedom struggle.
The President gave assent to the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026, granting 'Vande Mataram' the same legal status as the national anthem; disrupting its singing is punishable with up to three years in prison, a fine, or both.
PM Modi said it is the first time after Independence that 'Vande Mataram' was played at the Red Fort; the flag hoisting was synchronised with a 21-gun salute by the 1721 Field Battery (Ceremonial), and two Mi-17 helicopters of the Indian Air Force showered flower petals.
- Who
- President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Parliament's Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, and the Union Home Ministry.
- What
- The full 'Vande Mataram' was played at the Red Fort for the first time after Independence and before and after the President's Independence Day eve address, after the song was granted the same legal protection as the national anthem.
- When
- On the eve and day of the 80th Independence Day; the bill was cleared by the Rajya Sabha on July 29 and passed by the Lok Sabha on July 30, 2026, with the President's assent given on Tuesday.
- Where
- The Red Fort in New Delhi.
- Why
- To honour the national song's role in India's freedom struggle, when it became a song of the masses during the Swadeshi Movement, and to protect it from insults in the same way as the national anthem.
- Event
- 80th Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi
- National Song
- 'Vande Mataram', played in full at the Red Fort for the first time during official celebrations
- President
- Droupadi Murmu
- Prime Minister
- Narendra Modi
- Legislation
- Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026
- Legal status
- Same legal protection as the national anthem 'Jana Gana Mana'; disruption punishable by up to 3 years in prison, a fine, or both
- Milestone
- 2026 marks 150 years of the national song
- Ceremony details
- 21-gun salute by the 1721 Field Battery (Ceremonial) using indigenous 105 mm Light Field Guns; two Mi-17 helicopters of the Indian Air Force showered flower petals
