Where did Nehru unfurl the Tricolour on August 15, 1947? Not the Red Fort

Where did Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru unfurl the Tricolour for the first time after India attained independence on August 15 1947? Find out here

India will celebrate 75 years of independence on August 15, 2022. The Indian government has planned several activities under the 'Azadi ka Amrit Mohatsav' to mark the occasion. The 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign has been launched by the Ministry of Culture that aims to unfurl 200 million flags across the country to mark the day.

As we give due importance to the Tricolour this year, it is imperative to know that contrary to popular belief, our national flag was not unfurled for the first time, after India's independence, at the Red Fort.

It was unfurled by the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru at the Princess Park near India Gate in New Delhi on August 15, 1947.

On August 14, the midnight session of the Constituent Assembly decided to give the post of interim governor-general to Louis Mountbatten.

After the proposal was accepted by Mountbatten and the leaders were exiting the Assembly building, the crowd was so thick that they found it extremely difficult to exit the building.

Pamela Mountbatten, daughter of Louis, wrote, "After the ceremony (in the Assembly Building) they could not get out of the doors for some time as the crowd was still so thick."

The next day, on August 15, 1947, after Lord Mountbatten took oath as the first governor-general of independent India, he, along with Nehru, went to Roshanara Bagh to meet 5,000 children and their parents who had gathered there.

After that, the main event was planned to be held at Princess Park. Nehru was to lower the Union Jack and hoist the Tricolour. This was to be followed by a small parade. However, the plan was changed.

"This programme had originally included a ceremonial lowering of the Union Jack but when I discussed this with Nehru he entirely agreed that this was a day they wanted everybody to be happy, and if the lowering of the Union Jack in any way offended British susceptibilities, he would certainly see that it did not take place," Mountbatten was quoted as saying in a report by The Print.

The park was filled with a 'sea of people'. After considerable difficulty, Nehru and Mountbatten reached the dais for the ceremony. Nehru then unfurled the national flag, followed by the national anthem and a 31-gun salute.

It was only on August 16 that Nehru went to the Red Fort and unfurled the Tricolour there. He delivered his first Independence Day speech and called himself the 'Pratham sevak' of India.