Bengaluru: The state government is contemplating grant of official status to the Kannada flag.

The Kannada flag, rectangular in shape, with a strip of yellow (top half) and red in equal measure, symbolises Kannada and Karnataka.

“We are contemplating enacting a law to give the Kannada flag an official status,” Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told reporters in Bengaluru. Officials in the Kannada and Culture Department said a meeting of officials, experts and legal luminaries will be held soon to work out the modalities. “So far, it’s only an idea, no proposal as such is ready,” the official said. The flag was first conceived by Bengaluru-based social activist M Ramamurthy, who used it as a flag for a party founded by him “Kannada Paksha” in 1965. The Kannada Development Authority in 1998 did recommend that official status be granted to the Kannada flag. However, the law department turned down the proposal citing legal hurdles.

In 2012, the then BJP government issued a circular making it compulsory for government offices, schools and colleges to hoist the Kannada flag on November 1. However, a division bench of the Karnataka high court questioned the government’s move to hoist any flag other than the national flag. The circular was subsequently withdrawn.