THE GRAND REPUBLIC DAY PARADE. It is special feature of our Republic Day celebration. Feature means part. The 3 armed forces, that is the army, the navy and the air force participate in the parade. Students from various states and National Cadet Corps also take part in this parade.

We invite the heads of states from other countries for this occasion. Occasion means function. Children who have won the bravery awards get an opportunity to take part in the parade. All those who participate in the parade, salute the President of India. Many cultural programs are organised.

Our National Symbols. Let us now study about our national symbols. The national flag, the national anthem and the national emblem are our national symbols.

The first symbol is the national flag. Our national flag has 3 colors. Each color gives a definite message. Saffron stands for sacrifice and bravery, white stands for peace and green stands for prosperity. And the Ashoka Chakra, chakra means wheel. The wheel is a symbol of movement. It tells us to strive for progress. Strive means work hard.

The second symbol is the national anthem. ‘Jana Gana Mana’ is our national anthem. It was composed by Rabindranath Tagore. Composed means written. It describes the various regions, rivers and mountains of India. Regions like Punjab, Sindh, Gujarat, Maratha etc. Mountains and rivers like Vindhya, Himachal, Yamuna, Ganga etc. It is our duty to respect our national anthem. And how do we show respect? We must stand at attention during the national anthem. We must take care that no disrespect is shown to our national anthem. Disrespect means insult.

Let us study about the third symbol. That is the national emblem. Our country has a national emblem. Emblem means a symbol. We find this emblem on coins, currency note, government letters etc. Our national emblem is designed after the Ashoka pillar at Sarnath.

The Ashoka pillar, there are four lions standing back to back. We can see only three of them at a time. Below each lion there is a wheel. On the left of the wheel there is a horse. To the right of the wheel there is bull.

And students here we complete your chapter.