Netaji hoisted the first Indian National Flag on December 30 in 1943: Timeline of Indian flags

On December 30, 1943, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose hoisted the National Flag of India for the first time at the Gymkhana Ground (now Netaji Stadium) in Port Blair, Andaman Island. Netaji was the first Indian to reclaim a British-governed land of India. He declared the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which used to serve as a penitentiary for the British, as the first Indian territory to be liberated from their rule.

Bose's visit to the islands as the head of the Provisional Government of Azad Hind marked a symbolic fulfilment of his promise that the Indian National Army would stand on Indian soil by the end of 1943. The Indian flag has undergone many alterations from time to time. Until the Independence in 1947, India had six different flags to identify with. 

 Let us take a look at the Indian flags that India did not use for long:

1. Sister Nivedita's flag, 1906: 

 In 1904-06, Swami Vivekananda's disciple, Sister Nivedita made a red and yellow flag with 'bande mataram' written on it in Bengali. In 1906, a similar flag was made with three equal strips of blue (top), yellow (middle) and red (lower) and the same phrase written in Devnagari (Sanskrit script). The flag also had the symbols of a sun, a star and a lunar crescent.

2. The Lotus flag, 1906: With horizontal stripes of orange, yellow and green, this flag came to be known as the 'Calcutta flag' or the 'Lotus flag', as it had eight half opened lotuses on the orange strip. The flag is believed to be designed by Sachindra Prasad Bose and Sukumar Mitra. It was unfurled on August 7 in the year 1906 at Parsee Bagan in Calcutta (now Kolkata). 

3. The Berlin flag, 1907: This flag was designed by Madam Bhikaji Cama, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and Shyamji Krishna Varma. The flag was unfurled at Stuttgart, Germany, on August 22 in 1907. The flag consisted of three colour stripes including saffron, followed by yellow in the middle and green at the bottom.

4. The Home Rule flag, 1917: One of India's most revered leaders, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, mobilised the Home Rule movement against the British empire's decision of making India a British Dominion. A flag was designed with the Union Jack included on top. The flag also had the Big Dipper or Saptarishi constellation and a crescent moon and star. 

5. First flag with 'Charkha', 1921: In 1916, writer and geophysicist, Pingali Venkayya designed a flag to unite the nation. He sought the approval of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi suggested him to incorporate a 'charkha' in the flag to symbolise the economic regeneration of India. Gandhi unfurled this flag in 1921, which was coloured white at the top, green in the middle and red at the bottom. An image of 'charkha' was drawn across the three stripes, symbolising the unification of all communities.

6. The first 'Tiranga', 1931: Pingali's flag was met with criticism as most people did not appreciate the community-based design of the national flag. The colours of the flag were changed to saffron at the top, white in the middle and green at the bottom with the image of charkha being at the centre of the white stripe. This flag was approved at the Congress Committee meeting in 1931. 

7. British India flag, 1858-1947: The British Empire issued this flag in 1858. All the official vessels of the colonisers would carry the flag. It was quite similar to the flags of other British colonies such as Canada and Australia. The Union Jack was placed at the top-left quadrant and the Star of India, capped by the Royal Crown, was placed in the middle-right position.