THE FIRST TIME THE WORLD SAW THE INDIAN TRICOLOUR As tricolours dot the horizon in India on the eve of Independence Day, it is perhaps recalling the first time the world saw an Indian tricolour. August 22, 1907. Stuttgart.

The International Socialist Congress was taking place at Stuttgart. One of the delegates was Madame Bhikaji Cama. Born into an affluent Parsi family in Bombay, she was a strong advocate of freedom from British rule, and a rising figure in the Indian independence movement.

When her turn came to speak, Cama took a flag out of her purse. It was a tricolour with a green stripe with eight lotuses, a red stripe with a half moon and rising sun , and a saffron stripe in the middle with two words: Vande Mataram. And then she started speaking.

Holding the flag aloft in front of a mesmerised audience, Cama said: "This flag is of India's independence. Behold, it is born. It is already sanctified by the blood of martyred Indian youth. I call upon you, gentlemen, to rise and salute the flag of Indian independence..."

"In the name of this flag, I appeal to lovers of freedom all over the world to cooperate with this flag in freeing one-fifth of the human race." The hall rose. It rose to the Indian tricolour. And erupted in applause. "The cheers would not end," a German newspaper would report.

It looked nothing like the flag we have today. It was not even the first flag designed to represent India But it was every bit as Indian. And its impact on the world can never be overstated. "A silken tricolour, The banner of the oppressed..." A newspaper called it.

It looked nothing like the flag we have today. It was not even the first flag designed to represent India But it was every bit as Indian. And its impact on the world can never be overstated. "A silken tricolour, The banner of the oppressed..." A newspaper called it.