Archive · 14 Aug 2026
BIS revising national flag standard, may permit larger flag sizes
India has official rules about how its national flag must be made.
A group called the Bureau of Indian Standards writes these rules.
Right now, the group is updating the rules.
Soon, people might be allowed to make very large flags, as big as nine metres wide and six metres tall.
These big flags would be used at expos and international events.
The flag must always be made of special hand-spun cloth called khadi.
It has three colours: saffron on top, white in the middle, and green at the bottom.
In the middle of the white band is a navy-blue wheel with 24 spokes.
The rules for measuring the exact colours of the flag are also being updated.
Getting an official certificate for making flags is optional, and only six makers have one so far.
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is revising the national flag standard IS 1:1968, along with related standards for silk khadi (IS 300:1968) and wool khadi (IS 400:1968) flags.
The revision may permit very large flags up to 9,000 mm × 6,000 mm for use at expos, international events, and other large public installations.
Colour measurement norms, including trichromatic coordinates and brightness percentage for India Saffron, White, and India Green, are being updated to current practices.
Certification to the flag standard is currently voluntary, with six licences issued so far.
The standard requires flags to be made of hand-spun, hand-woven cotton khadi bunting and fixes the width-to-length ratio at two-to-three.
- Who
- The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), as stated by a senior BIS official.
- What
- Revision of the national flag standard IS 1:1968 to allow flags as large as 9,000 mm × 6,000 mm and to update colour measurement norms.
- When
- Announced on a Friday; the standard revision is currently underway. The flag's design was adopted on July 22, 1947.
- Where
- India
- Why
- To bring the standards in line with current practices while preserving the flag's essential identity and characteristics, including accommodating very large flags at expos and international events.
- Standard under revision
- IS 1:1968, along with IS 300:1968 (silk khadi) and IS 400:1968 (wool khadi)
- Proposed maximum flag size
- 9,000 mm × 6,000 mm
- Prescribed size range
- 450 mm × 300 mm (VVIP aircraft) to 150 mm × 100 mm (table display)
- Number of standard sizes
- 9
- Width-to-length ratio
- 2:3
- Material requirement
- Hand-spun, hand-woven cotton khadi bunting
- Flag design adopted
- July 22, 1947, by the Constituent Assembly
- Ashoka Chakra
- Navy-blue wheel with 24 spokes, modelled on the Lion Capital of Ashoka at Sarnath
- Certification licences issued
- 6 (certification is voluntary)