Pingali Venkayya was born on August 2, 1876 in a traditional Telugu Brahmin family.
He was born at Bhatlapenumarru, near Machilipatnam, in what is now the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
At the age of 19, Venkayya joined the army during the Boer war. It was during this stint in the British Army that Venkayya met Gandhi Their association would last over 50 years
He wrote a book titled “National Flag for India,” which was published in 1916.
The book showcased thirty designs of what could make the Indian flag.
Congress sessions between 1918 and 1921, he relentlessly put forth the idea of having a flag of our own
In 1921, Venkayya presented the first draft design of the flag to Mahatma Gandhi at the AICC session held at Bezwada
After a few rounds of changes, Venkayya’s design was adopted as the final Indian national flag just before independence in 1947.
Venkayya was posthumously honoured with a postage stamp in 2009 for his contribution to the Indian freedom struggle