Last modified: 2006-10-07 by ian macdonald
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A new set of rank flags for officers in "inter-services" assignments has been
introduced. They are maroon with the inter-services badge in silver (i.e., the
usual British style combination of anchor,
eagle, and crossed swords ensigned by the national Ashoka lions emblem) and
stars arrayed vertically in the fly. A lieutenant general, air marshal, or vice
admiral has a rectangular flag with three stars, a major general, rear admiral,
or air vice marshal a swallowtail flag with two stars, and a brigadier,
commodore, or air commodore a triangular pennant with one star. The one I saw
(which belonged to a rear admiral who is deputy chief of the Integrated Defence
Staff) looked like it had six pointed rather than five pointed stars, but I
wasn't able to tell for sure. I asked the admiral later and he confirmed the
system of flags as described above, and said that they are used by all the joint
commands, such as the Defence Intelligence Agency, the National Defence Academy,
and so on. The badge can be seen at the NDA site,
http://nda.nic.in/.
Joe McMillan, 2 February 2006
Das (1981)
says on page 52 of Traditions and Customs of the Indian Armed Forces that
the pledge of allegiance to the Indian flag is as follows: "I pledge allegiance
to the National Flag and to the Sovereign Democratic Republic, for which it
stands."
Joe McMillan, 27 January 2003