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Indian Princely States

As far as I have learned from reading, the princely flags are banned. State flags for the modern Indian states do not exist save for Jammu & Kashmir. Even use of the national flag of India is restricted. If I recall, Whitney Smith told me that the average Indian citizen may only fly the national flag on certain prescribed holidays. Use on other days is a civil offense.

Don Healey, 1996-07-01

Now, the current usage: The "ex-princely" families still use the flags, although the central government doesn't like it (the provincial governments, especially in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat look gleefully the other way). Most of the residences of the ex-rulers still fly the State flag, for example Gwalior or Jaipur, those rulers who still own their "houses" in New Delhi (sort of "high commisions" until 1950 or so, when some [Hyderabad] were taken as government ministry buildings [Hyderabad House became the Railway Ministry]) still fly the flag (Alwar comes in particular to mind here). Even some of the rulers (well, ex-rulers) fly their flags over their own private houses in Delhi (H.H. Dhrangadhgra flew a GIGANTIC Dhrangadhra State flag over his house, two blocks from the Chinese embassy!).

None of this is legal, as such, but little of it is restrained. As the "pre-1947 generation" passes, this practice is falling into abeyence (and the pre-47 flags fall apart in the Indian climate!). Also, in some cases, the State flags have been used by members of the royal houses standing for election to parliament (as in the recently-concluded elections). (I'm trying to get together some postings on the political party flags used in that contest.
Ed Haynes, 1996-07-01

The states ordered by the old British system of the numbers of "guns" in a ruler's salute. The "major" states are 21-, 19- and 17-gun states.

21-gun states:

19-gun states:

Bhopal
Indore/Holkar
Kalat
Kolhapur
Travancore
Udaipur/Mewar

17-gun states:

Bahawalpur
Bharatpur
Bikaner
Bundi
Cochin
Cutch
Jaipur
Jodhpur/Marwar
Karauli
Kotah
Patiala
Rewa
Tonk

The states ordered alphabatically (including those for which the number of guns is unknown).

Simple and elaborate flags
Source

See also:

Indian Princely States from Ed Haynes
India

Simple and elaborate flags

In many cases, Filcher [fil84] shows a more elaborate "state" flag with coats of arms, etc. Based on my personal observation in many of the erstwhile states and conversations with the some of the ex-rulers, these elaborate flags ususally existed on paper only and more simple ("civil") flags were more common.

Sources

The main source is
[fil84] A. Filcher, Drapeaux et Armoiries des Etats princiers de l'Empire des Indies (Flags and Arms of the Princely States of the Empire of the Indies), Dreux, 1984

Other sources of information on the Indian princely states include:

Charles Allen and Sharada Dwivedi
Lives of the Indian Princes
London: Century Publishing, 1984
ISBN 0-7126-0910-5
or, if you crave a set of more "academic" things:
Robin Jeffrey, ed.
People: Princes, and Paramount Power: Society and Politics in the Indian Princely States
Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1978
ISBN ??? 19-560886-0
When it comes out, the volume on the Princes by Barbara Ramusack in the New Cambridge History of India (Cambridge Univ. Press, sometime "soon"?) will be good.
As a more general background, the choices are mostly all bad. The whole "Dissipate Maharaja" genre is dominant and useless (unless you want unfounded tales of sex and degredation, but we learn little about the states).

Ed Haynes, 1996-04-03, 1996-07-09