On R-Day, Ramesh recalls adoption of national emblem, 'Satyameva Jayate' as national motto

New Delhi (PTI): On India's 77th Republic Day, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh recalled the adoption of the Lion Capital of Ashoka as the national emblem and 'Satyameva Jayate' as the national motto.

Noting the Constitution came into effect on this day 76 years ago, he said the history of its making continued to be analysed ever since Granville Austin's classic "The Indian Constitution: Cornerstone of a Nation" came out in 1966 and B Shiva Rao's magisterial five-volume "The Framing of India's Constitution" were published by 1968.

There have been other notable works, no doubt, but special mention must be made of the very recent book by Rohit De and Ornit Shani, "Assembling India's Constitution: A New Democratic History", he pointed out.

76 years ago today, the Constitution of India came into effect. The history of its making has continued to be analysed ever since Granville Austin’s classic “The Indian Constitution: Cornerstone of a Nation” came out in 1966 and B. Shiva Rao’s magisterial five-volume “The Framing… pic.twitter.com/fGWP9GWpos

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) January 26, 2026

The first two handwritten copies of the Constitution in English and Hindi also had the national emblem on their cover, Ramesh said. By the end of 1947, it had been decided that the national emblem would be the Ashokan Lion Capital first excavated at Sarnath in 1905, he said.

"It was only by early 1949 that the motto 'Satyameva Jayate' taken from the Mundaka Upanishad, was added below the abacus as the national motto.

"There were quite a few who said it should be Satyameva Jayati and not Satyameva Jayate. Eminent Sanskrit and other scholars were consulted, who agreed that it should be Satyameva Jayate," Ramesh recalled.

The Congress leader said that in mid-1956, noted historian Radha Kumud Mookerjee, who was then a nominated MP, wrote that the original Lion Capital also had a wheel of what he described as 'outstanding size' that was placed over the shoulders of the four lions.

But the emblem remained as it had long been decided and used extensively, he added.

"In some reports issued by the Constituent Assembly in 1948, the words 'Dharmachakra Pravartanaya' had been used below the abacus. But that got changed to Satyameva Jayate in early 1949," Ramesh said.

Interestingly, the words 'Dharmachakra Pravartanaya' were lit up just above the seat of the Lok Sabha Speaker in the Old Parliament Building, and this continued till the Lok Sabha shifted to the new building in September 2023, he added.