Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoisted the national flag on the ramparts of Red Fort, New Delhi, on 15 August 2024 for the 11th consecutive time on the occasion of the 78th Independence Day. This was the first Independence Day address to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his third term as the Prime Minister of India.
The Prime Minister of India hoists the national flag on Independence Day. In contrast, the President of India hoists the national flag on Republic Day.
During this year’s Independence Day celebration, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inspected a Guard of Honour before unfurling the national flag. This year, the Guard of Honour was coordinated by the Indian Navy’s personnel.
The Prime Minister was given a 21-gun salute by the 1721 Field Battery of the Indian Army, which used indigenously developed 105mm Light Field Guns.
Around 6,000 special guests from diverse sections of society, including youth, tribal communities, farmers, women, and beneficiaries of various government schemes, were invited to witness the ceremony.
Theme of the 78th Independence Day
The theme of the 78th Independence Day celebration was ‘Viksit Bharat @ 2047’. It aims to make India a developed nation by 2047.
Record of Narendra Modi
After Pandit Nehru, PM Modi holds the record for hoisting the national flag for the most successive times on the occasion of Independence Day.
Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru hoisted the national flag for the 17th consecutive time, while PM Modi hoisted it for the 11th consecutive time.
Record of Prime Ministers for Hoisting National Flag on I-Day
Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, on 15 August 1947, was the first prime minister to hoist the Indian national flag on the occasion of Independence Day.
Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru holds the record for hosting the national flag the most times, with 17 times during his tenure as Prime Minister from August 15, 1947, to May 27, 1964.
After Pandit Nehru, Indira Gandhi hoisted the national flag a record 16 times. She was Prime Minister from January 24, 1966, to March 24, 1977, and again from January 14, 1980, to October 31, 1984.
The third record for hoisting the national flag is with Narendra Modi. He has hoisted the flag 11 consecutive times.
He also overtook the record of Dr Manmohan Singh, who hoisted the flag for the record 10 consecutive times from May 22, 2004 – May 26, 2014.
After Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee holds the record for hoisting the national flag six times. Atal Bihari Vajpayee hoisted the national flag from March 19, 1998 – May 22, 2004.
The sixth spot is jointly held by P V Narasimha Rao and India’s youngest Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, who hoisted the national flag five times on Independence Day.
PV Narasimha Rao was the Prime Minister of India from June 21, 1991, to May 16, 1996, and Rajiv Gandhi was prime Minister from October 31, 1984 – December 2, 1989.
Lal Bahadur Shastri and Morarji Desai occupy the seventh spot jointly. They both hoisted the national flag twice each.
Lal Bahadur Shastri unfurled the flag in 1964 and 1965, while Moraraji Desai did it in 1977 and 1978.
Charan Singh (1979), Vishwanath Pratap Singh (1990), HD Deve Gowda (1996) and Inder Kumar Gujral (1997) hoisted the flag once on Independence Day.
Chandra Shekar and Gulzari Lal Nanda are the only two Prime Ministers of India who never had the opportunity to unfurl the national flag on Independence Day. Chandra Shekhar was the Prime Minister from November 10, 1990, to June 21, 1991.
Gulzaril Lal Nanda is the only person to have been appointed as the caretaker Prime Minister in India. He became the Prime Minister from May 27, 1964, to June 9, 1964, after the death of Pandit Nehru. He again became the Prime Minister after the death of Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shashrti from January 11, 1966, to January 24, 1966.
