TVK Minister for Public Works and Sports Development Aadhav Arjuna has called for the creation of a separate flag for Tamil Nadu, with Tamil language and identity at its centre. He also proposed that the flag be hoisted across the state on November 1 and July 18 every year, with the Chief Minister formally inaugurating the practice, as reported in ETV Bharat.
Speaking at the Tamil Nadu Day celebrations held at the Government Museum auditorium in Egmore, Chennai, on Saturday, 1 November 2026, Aadhav Arjuna said that the state needed its own flag to represent the pride and significance of the Tamil language.
The event was attended by several ministers, including Water Resources Minister Anand, School Education and Tamil Development Minister Rajmohan, Social Justice Minister Vanni Arasu and Dairy Development Minister Vijayalakshmi.
Addressing the gathering, Aadhav Arjuna said that language and culture were essential to a society’s identity and that a community that lost its language and culture would eventually lose its identity.
He invoked the contributions of Periyar and former Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai to the movement for the recognition of Tamil Nadu’s identity. Referring to Periyar’s 1938 slogan, “Tamil Nadu is for Tamils”, he traced the history of the demand to rename Madras State as Tamil Nadu.
He also recalled Annadurai’s role in the renaming of the state, following which the Tamil Nadu Assembly adopted the resolution on 18 July 1967.
The Minister then called for compulsory Tamil education in all schools across Tamil Nadu, including CBSE schools and other private institutions. He urged the School Education Minister to ensure that Tamil was taught as a compulsory subject from Classes 1 to 8.
Going further, Aadhav Arjuna said that children of ministers, MLAs, IAS and IPS officers, government officials and government employees should also study Tamil, arguing that the change must begin with those holding positions of power.
His most significant proposal, however, was the creation of a separate Tamil Nadu flag.
“We must create a flag for the Tamil language. Several states have their own flags. Tamil Nadu must have a flag that places Tamil first,” he said.
He proposed that the Chief Minister hoist the flag for the first time on November 1 and July 18, and that it subsequently be hoisted in every household across the state.
Comparing the proposed flag’s significance to that of the national flag, he said Tamil Nadu needed a flag that would celebrate the pride and greatness of the Tamil language.
Aadhav Arjuna also demanded that November 1, observed as Tamil Nadu Day, and July 18, which marks the adoption of the resolution to rename Madras State as Tamil Nadu, be declared public holidays, on the lines of Independence Day on August 15 and Republic Day on January 26.
“This is a new Tamil Nadu. Tamil must be everywhere,” he said.
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