Damaged tricolour replaced at Fort

The damage was initially noticed by the media personnel at Secretariat complex, and they reported it to the authorities. The incident also caused a flutter among the onlookers who wondered as to how a damaged national flag continued to be on display.

Within a few minutes, the Defence Personnel arrived with a new flag and lowered the damaged one and duly swapped the flag as per protocol. 

The flag staff at Fort St George is one of the tallest in the country and this was the flagstaff where the first tricolour was unfurled in Chennai soon after independence on August 15, 1947. 

When contacted, a defence spokesperson said, “Soon after I received the input, I alerted the points man in the Engineering department. I also despatched our staff to the spot to ascertain the damage. I was told the flag which was damaged was hoisted for the first time on Friday. There was no damage when it was hoisted in the morning as per our records,” he said. 

“We have been entrusted with the task of maintaining this flag after reports of a damaged tricolour was on display when it was under the purview of the state government. We have been doing that diligently,” he added. The MoD is also responsible for the massive flag flying high at War Memorial.