National Anthem – Code of Conduct: Notes for UPSC Polity

The National anthem was in the news recently. The Supreme Court of India has declared that pride for the national anthem is non-negotiable and the Centre allowed differently-abled people to stay seated during the national anthem. It has also made it mandatory that all the citizens of India should stand up and listen to the National Anthem before they can watch a movie in a theatre.

The decision is in agreement with Article 51(A) of the Constitution of India which makes honouring the National Anthem a fundamental duty of all citizens. In this regard, here we are giving some interesting facts about the Code of Conduct relating to the National Anthem.

In case you have missed out on our earlier article highlighting the 8 interesting facts about the Indian National Anthem, you can read them by clicking on the linked article.

Overview of the Indian National Anthem

The song Jana Gana Mana was a poem composed originally in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore. The Hindi version of Jana Gana Mana was adopted as the National Anthem of India on 24th January 1950. 

The poem was first publicly recited on the second day of the annual session of the Indian National Congress in Kolkata on 27 December 1911.

The song was selected as the national anthem by Subhas Chandra Bose while he was gathering support for the Indian Independence Movement in Germany. On the occasion of the founding meeting of the German-Indian Society on September 11, 1942, in the Hotel Atlantic in Hamburg, Jana Gana Mana was played for the first time by the Hamburg Radio Symphony Orchestra as the national anthem of an independent India.

Code of Conduct for the National Anthem

The National Anthem of India is sung on several occasions. Guidelines have been issued from time to time about the precise forms of the National Anthem, the events on which it is to be sung or played, and about the necessity for giving respect to the National Anthem by the observance of proper dignity on such occasions.

National Anthem Code of Conduct – Download PDF Here

The complete version of the National Anthem shall be played in the following events:

• Civil and Military Ceremonies.
• National Salute should be given to the National Anthem on official occasions to the President or to the Governor within their corresponding States.
• During parades regardless of whether any of the VIPs mentioned above is present or not.
• On arrival of the President at official State functions and other gatherings organized by the Government and on his departure from such functions.
• Instantaneously before and after the President addresses the country over All India Radio.
• On arrival of the Lieutenant Governor at official State functions within his Union Territory or State and on his leaving from such functions.
• When the National Flag is carried on parade.
• When the Regimental Colours are presented.
• For raising colours in the Navy.
• The list of 10 categories of people who are exempted from standing up at the time the national anthem plays in a theatre has been adjusted recently. The list includes people diagnosed with:
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Parkinson’s disease
  • Multiple sclerosis
  • Leprosy-cured persons
  • Muscular dystrophy
  • Day blindness
  • Dearing loss
  • Autism
  • Locomotive disability (wheelchair-bound)
  • Intellectual disability (learning disorder)

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