Bengaluru: After months of discussions and controversies, a decision on the final design of a flag for the state of Karnataka is expected to be submitted to the state government within a week.
Officials in the committee formed to study the possibility of a new flag stated that they were looking at the legal ramifications of having a state flag.
"We have already conducted three meetings. A few models of state flag have been submitted to the committee for approval. Committee has to finalise; but more importantly, there are legal issues on how to go about it," said Manu Baligar, president, Kannada Sahitya Parishat and one among the nine-member committee.
According to the legal opinion the committee has received so far, a state can have a flag of its own but it requires to be approved by the state government and then the central government, and must follow existing guidelines vis-a-vis the national flag code.
Currently, only the state of Jammu and Kashmir has a flag of its own.
However, Karnataka's bi-coloured flag, although unofficial, has been widely recognised and identified by the people as the state flag. The yellow and red coloured flag is also hoisted across the state on various occasions; most importantly, on the state's formation day - Kannada Rajyotsava on November 1.
There have been demands by pro-Kannada groups to have the same flag as an official one. However, officials are clear the new flag would be different.
"We cannot adopt the same flag as an official one especially because there have been claims of ownership for that flag. There have to be some changes. A political flag cannot be the state's flag. We will take a decision and submit the final report by the end of this month," said SG Siddaramaiah, chairperson, Kannada Development Authority and a member of the committee.
The unofficial flag was conceived in the 1960s by Kannada writer and activist Ma Ramamurthy and soon used for his political party Kannada Paksha, the party that now claims ownership of the flag.
It was in July last year that the government constituted the flag committee headed by Chakravarthy Mohan, Principal Secretary, Department of Kannada and Culture.
The committee includes Secretaries to the departments of Personnel and Administrative Services, Home, Law and Parliamentary Affairs, president of Kannada Sahitya Parishat, chairman of Kannada Development Authority, and vice-chancellor of Kannada University, Hampi, as its members.
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