Earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a new insignia for the Indian Navy while marking a major milestone in its history – the commissioning of the country’s first indigenously built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.
Roughly a millennium ago, the Chola dynasty achieved what INS Vikrant is expected to accomplish — to make India a superior maritime power. When the new insignia, which drew inspiration from the naval ensign of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji, was unveiled, it triggered a discussion on how apt it would have been for the insignia to have a symbol representing the Cholas, who proved their naval supremacy at least five centuries before the ascent of Shivaji.
