![[Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam Flag]](../images/i/in}dmdk1.gif)
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image by Tomislav Todorovic, 11 April 2018
From an article in Asian Age:
Massive turnout in Madurai - By Our Special Correspondent, Madurai, Sept. 14
It was the biggest launch show ever witnessed in Tamil Nadu politics. Colourful,
enthusiastic and chaotic. It was perhaps the ideal setting for Vijayakanth to
launch his Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam [National Progressive Dravida Party] here on Wednesday. As lakhs of
his fans spilled out of the massive pandal on the outskirts of this temple town,
"Captain" Vijayakanth announced his political arrival amid thundering cheers and
promised to cleanse Tamil politics so that the people's needs were taken care
of, particularly that of the underprivileged. Explaining the choice of his
party's name, which he said took him much time and deliberation with wife
Premalatha and some close friends and finally dawned upon him through the
blessings of Goddess Meenakshi of Madurai, the star-politician said Desiya
(national) was to show that Tamil Nadu was part of the nation and his Dravida
Kazhagam (Dravida party) would have Murpokku (progressive) programmes and
policies.
See flag at
http://www.indiavarta.com/gallery/images/2005/sep/14a/vi6.jpg: red over
black with yellow circle with a hand and torch in black outline.
Source: http://www.asianage.com/main.asp?layout=2&cat1=5&cat2=181&newsid=180629&RF=DefaultMain
Knut A. Berg, 15 September 2005
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 11 April 2018
The flag of DMDK is a red-black horizontal bicolor, charged with large yellow
disc bearing a hand, outlined in blue, grasping a torch, also depicted in blue
[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. The shade of red is often R, but may sometimes be as dark as
R+. The shade of blue is usually B, but may be much darker. The shade of yellow
varies less and is usually either Y or close - even the darkest seen shades are
still closer to Y than Y+. Hand and torch also appear in center of the party
seal [6].
Tomislav Todorovic, 11 April 2018
![[Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam Flag]](../images/i/in}dmdk2.gif)
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 11 April 2018
![[Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam Flag]](../images/i/in}dmdk3.gif)
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 11 April 2018
On an unofficial party flag, the hand and torch are replaced with a nagara
drum, the election symbol which was allotted to the party some time between
2011-03-08 [12] and 2011-12-28 [13]. This flag is a triband, with central yellow
stripe, occupying about 1/5 of the flag width and conjoined with the disc into a
single shape; the nagara is blue [2].
Tomislav Todorovic, 11 April 2018
![[Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam Flag]](../images/i/in}dmdk4.gif)
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 11 April 2018
Other unofficial flags are red-yellow-black tricolors. That design also makes
part of the party activists' dress code: tricolor shawls, accompanying all white
suits (shirt combined with trousers or dhoti) for men and yellow saris with
tricolor bordure, combined with red cholis, for women [14]. In currently
available online sources [15, 16], shade of red looks closer to R+ than R, while
the ratio may be 3:5 [15], but also less oblong [16].
Tomislav Todorovic, 11 April 2018
![[Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam Flag]](../images/i/in}dmdk5.gif)
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 11 April 2018
On tricolor flags, yellow stripe may be narrower that the other two (about 1/5
of the flag width) [17].
Tomislav Todorovic, 11 April 2018
![[Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam Flag]](../images/i/in}dmdk6.gif)
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 11 April 2018
Tricolor flags may also have greater width than length. The most frequent
ratio seems to be 3:1. The shade of red on these flags may be R [18, 19], or
sometimes R+ [20].
Tomislav Todorovic, 11 April 2018
![[Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam Flag]](../images/i/in}dmdk7.gif)
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 11 April 2018
A less oblong flag, with ratio of about 2:1, is also sometimes used [21].
Tomislav Todorovic, 11 April 2018
![[Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam Flag]](../images/i/in}dmdk8.gif)
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 11 April 2018
Extremely oblong flags, with ratio of about 5:2, were photographed in Chennai
in February 2016 [22]. They were hoisted in a row, alternating with similarly
shaped flags of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
Tomislav Todorovic, 11 April 2018
![[Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam Flag]](../images/i/in}dmdk9.gif)
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 11 April 2018
Flags with width greater than length may also have narrower yellow stripe.
One such flag was photographed in Abhiramapuram, Chennai in 2009 [23]; the ratio
was about 2:1 and width of yellow stripe was about 1/6 of of the flag width.
Note also the flag-bearer's bandana, which repeats the pattern of party flag;
for the DMDK, this is currently the only recorded example of this way of flag
use in the dress code, but was seen earlier for other parties, most notably
Aathi Thamizhar Peravai.
Tomislav Todorovic, 11 April 2018
![[Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam Flag]](../images/i/in}dmdk10.gif)
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 11 April 2018
Lastly, rare examples of triband with central stripes wider than the other
two were also seen. Such flags were photographed in May 2016 [24]. The ratio was
about 2:1 and width of yellow stripe was about 5/9 of the flag width. Unlike
most of other similar flags, these employed darker shade of red. (Flag ratio and
shade of rad can be determined by comparing with other flags seen in the photo -
those of Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal
Katchi.)
Tomislav Todorovic, 11 April 2018
Sources:
[1] Vijayakanth's blog - Entry on 2008-11-17:
http://vijayakanth-dmdk.blogspot.rs/2008/11/dmdk-women-condemn-price-rise-power.html
[2] OneIndia Gallery website:
https://gallery.oneindia.com/
[3] The Hindu newspaper website - News
entry on 2011-01-10:
http://www.thehindu.com
[4] Vijayakanth at Twitter - Post on 2017-10-29:
https://twitter.com/
[5] Photo of DMDK flag at Twitter:
https://twitter.com/
[6] Vijayakanth at Twitter - Post on 2017-09-01:
https://twitter.com/
[7] The Hindu newspaper website - News entry on
2005-09-15:
http://www.thehindu.com
[8] Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
website:
http://enacademic.com/ (image:
http://enacademic.com/pictures/)
[9] WebDunia website:
http://tamil.webdunia.com/
[10] The Hindu newspaper website - News entry
on 2009-04-23:
http://www.thehindu.com/
[11] DMDK website:
http://dmdk.party/2015/05/11/
[12] Election Commission of India website - Political Parties And Election
Symbols as on 08-03-2011 (in PDF format):
http://eci.nic.in/.../Notification_symbol_08032011.pdf
[13] Election
Commission of India website - Political Parties And Election Symbols as on
28-12-2011 (in PDF format):
http://eci.nic.in/.../Notification_symbol_29122011.pdf
[14] Vijayakanth
at Twitter - Post on 2017-09-29:
https://twitter.com/
[15] Dinamalar newspaper channel at YouTube - video
report on 2014-12-07 (flag visible @ 0:23-0:28):
https://www.youtube.com
[16] Dinkaran website:
http://www.dinakaran.com
[17] Photo of DMDK tricolor flag:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com
[18] Vijayakanth at Twitter - Post on
2017-02-27:
https://twitter.com/
[19] News 7 Tamil channel at YouTube - video report
on 2016-02-19 (flags visible @ 0:59-1:36):
https://www.youtube.com
[20] DMDK at Facebook - Post on 2017-08-10:
https://www.facebook.com
[21] The Hindu newspaper website - News entry on
2016-04-19:
http://www.thehindu.com
[22] OneIndia website:
https://tamil.oneindia.com/
[23] South Chennai Votes website:
https://southchennaivotes.wordpress.com/ (image:
https://southchennaivotes.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/1.jpg)
[24]
Frontline magazine website:
http://www.frontline.in (image:
http://www.frontline.in/multimedia)
