Ancient origins
“Dharma” can refer to righteous conduct, moral responsibility, truth, duty or an order supporting individual and social well-being. “Chakra” means wheel. Together, Dharmachakra may be understood as the Wheel of Dharma.
Connection with Emperor Ashoka
Emperor Ashoka ruled during the Mauryan period in the third century BCE. His inscriptions and monuments are among the most important surviving records of ancient Indian political and moral thought.
Ashokan pillars and artistic remains use lions, animals, lotus forms and wheel motifs. The Lion Capital at Sarnath, now preserved at the Sarnath Archaeological Museum, later became the basis of India’s State Emblem.
From the freedom movement to the National Flag
Earlier versions of the flag associated with India’s freedom movement used the charkha. When the present National Flag was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 22 July 1947, the Ashoka Chakra replaced it.
The change retained the image of a moving wheel while connecting the flag with a broader historical and philosophical tradition.
Continuing relevance
The wheel can remind citizens that justice must remain active, democracy requires participation and freedom brings responsibilities. Its questions remain current: how should power be used, and how can progress remain connected with justice?