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Jaipur - Indian Princely State

image by Jorge Candeias

The flag of 1877

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The flag of 1877

image by Jorge Candeias

Jaipur - also Jeypore. Former Indian state, East Rajputana, NW India, now in Rajasthan state; 15.610 square miles, capital: Jaipur. Founded in 12th century (probably 1128) by Rajput chief from Gwalior; furnished famous generals to Mogul emperors; came under British protection 1818; title: maharaja.
Jarig Bakker, 11 November 1998

Ziggioto (1998) reports "The most ancient flag of Jaipur (or Jeypore), capital of the present state of Rajasthan, was a triangular white standard with the figure of the "kuchnar"-tree (the Bauhinia variegata) , which figured on the flag of Dasaratha, the father of Rama (sec. VII). Man Singh had in 1630 a five-colored flag (pancaranga). It was triangular, colored red - white - yellow - green - blue. The five colors celebrated the victory over five Pathan chiefs. The founder of Faipur, Jai Singh II (1699-1744), carried a similar banner, but colored red - yellow - white - green - blue; moreover he had a triangular flag with the same colors, but smaller. In 1818 Mohan Singh (1816-'19) retook Man Singh's flag, but without the knot at the end. In 1877 Ram Singh (1835-'80), on the occasion of the Assembly of princes, who attended the the coronation of Queen Victoria (as Empress of India), had a five-striped flag red - green - white - blue - yellow, with in the center of the two first stripes a radiant yellow sun (alluding to the solar descent of the Kachhwaha princes). That flag lasted till 1922, when the Pancaranga became a flag like the one used by Jai Singh, but in rectangular form, which lasted till 1946."
Jarig Bakker, 13 May 2002

According to Filcher (1984), "Drapeau et Armoiries des Etats Princiers de l'Empire des Indies", a red over green bicolor with 5-color canton came into use after Indian independence [if my weak attempt at reading French is correct]... "A la suite de l'Independance de l'UNION INDIENNE, le drapeau fut change et se constitua en deux bandes horizontales d'egale largeur avec sur celle superieure en canton, les cinque couleurs: rouge, jaune, bleu, blanc et vert, suivie d'un quartier rouge, l'inferieure de couleur vert..." [note: accent marks missing in my transcription]

According to a website on the history of the Rajasthan legislature at http://rajassembly.nic.in/leg-raj.htm Jaipur did continue its existence as a distinct entity for a short while after joining India in 1947, so it seems at least plausible that this flag was indeed used for awhile after Indian independence.
Ned Smith, 14 May 2002

All over the city of Jaipur there are panchrangas, the horizontal five-color-flags used by the rajputs, hoisted in different shapes, some with edges of golden fringes, and in different sequences of colors. The colors however are those, which are depicted above.

On top of the city-palace nowadays there is hoisted a rectangular version of the panchranga in the following order: red over yellow over white over green over blue (according to your FIAV –Code it is R_Y_W_G+_B+). This can be proved by own photos and photos in current picture-postcards. In the Jaipur Mail-Museum, at the backdoor of the GPO there is a light blue pillar-box, showing a different order of colors. It is possible, that every Maharaja of Jaipur preferred and hoisted a favourite order of colors. The stripes are not separated by black lines. It is remarkable, that the strips of yellow and white, which are corresponding with metal-colours gold and silver according to European heraldry, are direct neighbours within the flag.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 13 April 2005