Sadar Bazar decks up in tricolour as Delhi's flag-making legacy gears up for Independence Day

New Delhi: There is barely enough room to walk. Rolls of cloth lean against walls, sewing machines hum without pause and freshly stitched tricolours are packed into bundles, ready for dispatch across the country. At the centre of it all is Bharat Handloom Cloth House, one of Delhi's oldest flag-making shops in Sadar Bazar.

Here, a family that has been making the national flag for generations is working through a rush ahead of the 80th Independence Day.

Established in 1962, the year of the India-China war, this tiny shop has supplied flags to government officials, households and institutions through some of the country's defining moments, including the war.


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The family's association with flag-making, however, goes back even further, to Ghaffar's grandfather and father, who made flags during the freedom movement.

Abdul Ghaffar later carried that legacy forward, spending more than six decades making flags. Fondly known as the "Flag Uncle" after Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned him during the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign, Ghaffar died on December 29, 2025, at the age of 81.

Today, his younger brother Abdul Malik and the family's third generation continue the work from the same shop.

For Malik, the business is less a trade than a family legacy which has passed through generations.

"My father and grandfather made flags during the freedom movement. It was their small contribution to the country. Khadi cloth used to come from Bengal then, and they would prepare the flags here. After Independence, the work continued and in 1962, our family established Bharat Handloom Cloth House here in Sadar Bazar," Malik said.

"That was also the time of the China war. We sold flags to government officials and households when there was a need for patriotism. Since then, we have seen the demand for the tricolour rise whenever the country has gone through an important moment," he said.

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Malik said his elder brother Ghaffar joined the family business when he was around 15-16 years old and spent more than six decades making the national flag.

"He started working with our father when he was very young. For more than 60 years, he remained associated with this work. Today, our children are learning the same craft," Malik said.

The workshop has witnessed changing demand for the tricolour through some of the country's defining moments, he said.

"We have seen the demand during the 1962 China war, the Emergency, the Kargil conflict, the Anna Andolan and later the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign. Whenever the country comes together, we feel it here first," Malik said.

The rush ahead of this Independence Day has been particularly large. The family has so far prepared and sold around 25 to 30 lakh flags for the season, with several large government orders already dispatched.

"Most of the government orders have already gone out. Now we are supplying to local schools, shops, housing societies and other customers. The rain has slowed the demand a little in the last few days, but we have a large stock ready," Malik said.

During the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign, the workshop had produced more than one lakh flags a day, he said.

Step outside the shop and almost every lane in Sadar Bazar has taken on the colours of the tricolour.

National flags hang from awnings, flag pins fill display trays, while badges, dashboard flags, buntings and wristbands crowd shopfronts. Traders say patriotic merchandise becomes a major draw in the weeks leading up to August 15.

"These two weeks are completely different from the rest of the year. Normally, flags are just one of many products we keep. But before August 15, they become our main business. Around 60 to 70 per cent of our sales come from flags, flag pins and other patriotic items," said Rajesh Gupta, who has been selling patriotic merchandise in Sadar Bazar for more than 20 years.

"Schools, government offices, RWAs and families all come looking for them," he said.

A few shops away, trader Irshad Khan said demand begins building nearly two weeks before Independence Day.

"On busy days, we dispatch close to 200 orders. Schools buy hand-held flags for cultural programmes, housing societies pick them up for celebrations, offices ask for larger sizes and parents come with children who want to carry a flag home. By evening, most of the day's stock is gone," he said.

Sadar Bazar has taken on the colours of the tricolour, as the country gears up to celebrate the 80th Independence Day.