For millions of Indians, the most enduring image associated with the Independence Day is the unfurling of the national tricolor by the prime minister at the ancient Red Fort in the old quarter of the national capital, followed immediately by the inspiring strains of ‘Jana Gana Mana,’ the national anthem.

But few Indians are likely to be aware of how ‘Jana Gana Mana,’ composed originally in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore in 1911, two years before he won the Nobel Prize for literature, become the country’s national anthem.

While it is clear that ‘Jana Gana Mana’ was sung for the first time at the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress on Dec. 27, 1911, a controversy still rages over whether the song was actually meant to welcome King George V, as was reported in some leading newspapers of that time. It is on this ground that many had opposed the eventual choice of this song as the national anthem of free India. While the Nobel laureate reportedly never contradicted these rumors, many of his staunch supporters contended that a deeply-patriotic man like Tagore would have composed a song in honor of the British monarch.

As the national movement gathered steam, the popularity of ‘Jana Gana Mana’ increased by leaps and bounds. Two other very popular songs during the freedom struggle were ‘Vande Mataram,’ from ‘Anand Math,’ written by Bengali novelist Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, and ‘Saare Jahan Se Achcha Hindustan Hamare’ by the famous Urdu poet Mohammad Iqbal.

In many cases, the British authorities, who were eager to crush any nationalist feelings among Indians during those years, had equated the singing of ‘Vande Mataram’ with sedition, and people found singing the song were punished severely and often jailed.

On Aug. 14, 1947, just before the country’s tryst with destiny, members of the the Constituent Assembly listened in rapt attention as eminent freedom fighter Sucheta Kripalani sang the first verses of three patriotic songs — ‘Vande Mataram,’ ‘Sare Jahan Se Achcha Hindustan Hamara,’ and ‘Jana Gana Mana.’ ‘Jana Gana Mana’ was also sung when Jawaharlal Nehru hoisted the Indian tricolor and lowered the Union Jack on Aug. 15, 1947, at Prince’s Park near India Gate in New Delhi, symbolizing a new dawn in the country’s history. A final decision on the adoption of a national anthem was taken on Jan. 24, 1950, at a meeting of the Constituent Assembly, presided over by Rajendra Prasad.

In a short announcement, Prasad said that although it was initially thought that the House would take a decision on the issue by way of a resolution, he had, instead, decided to issue a statement that ‘Jana Gana Mana’ would be the national anthem.

He added that ‘Vande Mataram,’ which had played a historic part in the freedom struggle, “shall be honored equally with ‘Jana Gana Mana’ and shall have equal status with it.”