When is Indian Independence Day?

Indian Independence Day is always celebrated on August 15th. It is the National Day of India.

Also known as 'I-Day', this public holiday marks the date in 1947, when India became an independent country.

This holiday is a dry day in India, when the sale of alcohol is not permitted.

History of Indian Independence Day

The British established their first outpost on the Indian Subcontinent in 1619 at Surat on the northwestern coast.

By the end of that century, the East India Company had opened three more permanent trading stations at Madras, Bombay, and Calcutta.

The British continued to expand their influence in the region until, by the mid nineteenth century, they had control over most of what is present-day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. In 1857, a rebellion in northern India by mutinous Indian soldiers, led the British Government to transfer all political power from the East India Company to the Crown. The British began controlling most of India directly while administering the rest through treaties with local rulers.

In the late Nineteenth Century, the initial moves were taken toward self-government in British India by the appointment of Indian councilors to advise the British viceroy and the establishment of provincial councils with Indian members.

In 1920, Indian leader Mohandas K. Gandhi transformed the Indian National Congress political party into a mass movement to campaign against the British colonial rule. The party used both parliamentary and nonviolent resistance and non-cooperation to achieve independence. Other leaders, notably Subhash Chandra Bose, also adopted a military approach to the movement. The movement culminated in the independence of the subcontinent from the British Empire and the formation of India and Pakistan.

Thus, on August 15th 1947, India became a dominion within the Commonwealth. Friction between Hindus and Muslims led the British to partition British India, creating East and West Pakistan. India became a republic within the Commonwealth after promulgating its constitution on 26 January 1950, which is now the Republic Day holiday.

National Flag of India

The Indian national flag is a horizontal tricolor of saffron, white and green. The wheel in the centre is a representation of the chakra, which appears on the abacus of Ashoka's pillar.
The flag was approved on July 22nd 1947 and presented to the Indian nation on August 15th 1947 when Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, raised the flag at Lahore Gate of the Red Fort in Delhi.
The colour saffron, represents courage, sacrifice and renunciation. The white denotes truth and purity and the green stands for life, faith and chivalry. The wheel symbolises unceasing motion and progress.
Independence Day before Independence

At the 1929 Lahore session of the Indian National Congress, the Purna Swaraj declaration, or "Declaration of the Independence of India" was promulgated, and 26 January 1930 was declared as Independence Day at that time.The Congress called on people to pledge themselves to civil disobedience and "to carry out the Congress instructions issued from time to time" until India attained complete independence. Celebration of such an Independence Day was envisioned to stoke nationalistic fervour among Indian citizens, and to force the British government to consider granting independence.The Congress observed 26 January as the Independence Day between 1930 and 1946. The celebration was marked by meetings where the attendants took the "pledge of independence". Jawaharlal Nehru described in his autobiography that such meetings were peaceful, solemn, and "without any speeches or exhortation".Gandhi envisaged that besides the meetings, the day would be spent " ... in doing some constructive work, whether it is spinning, or service of 'untouchables,' or reunion of Hindus and Mussalmans, or prohibition work, or even all these together".ollowing actual independence in 1947, the Constitution of India came into effect on and from 26 January 1950; since then 26 January is celebrated as Republic Day.