Every August 15, the image of the Prime Minister hoisting the Tricolour from the Red Fort is central to India’s Independence Day celebrations. But this familiar tradition did not begin on August 15, 1947. On the day India became independent, Jawaharlal Nehru hoisted the national flag at Princess Park near India Gate in New Delhi. The first flag ceremony at the Red Fort took place a day later, on August 16, 1947, according to historical accounts and a Press Information Bureau record. The distinction is easy to miss because Nehru’s Red Fort ceremony has become one of the defining images of India's Independence Day. But the events of those first two days were different.
