Urvashi Rautela defends tricolour gown at Miss Universe: ‘It was about artistic expression’

Dubai: Urvashi Rautela's appearance as a judge at the Miss Universe India pageant in Jaipur on Sunday was meant to be a tribute to her country. Instead, it has become a debate about where homage ends and the Flag Code begins.

The actor arrived in a tricolour-inspired couture gown featuring saffron, white and green, with an Ashok Chakra-inspired embellishment at the centre. While many read it as a patriotic gesture, a section of social media users argued that the design fell foul of the rules governing the Indian National Flag.

What Rautela says the gown represents

For Rautela, the outfit was personal. "I carry my country with me not merely as a nationality, but as a part of my identity," she said in an exclusive interview with Hindustan Times. "I wanted to wear something that didn't merely tell people where I came from, but communicated what India means to me. That is where this couture came from."

The gown was created by Belarusian designer Darya Chermashentseva of DASHA Fashion Couture and took approximately three months to make. "The silhouette, the placement of the colours, the embellishment, the detailing and the construction were all interpreted as fashion," Rautela said. "It wasn't simply about putting three colours on a dress. It was about transforming a national sentiment into an artistic expression."

The objection from some social media users centred on a specific point. Critics argued that incorporating the colours and symbols of the national flag into lower-body attire, and allowing parts of the gown to trail along the floor, ran contrary to the guidelines set out under the Flag Code of India.

Rautela's response

Rautela pushed back on the interpretation that her gown reproduced the flag.

"There are several visible differences between the Indian National Flag and this gown," she said. "The most important point is that the gown is not a literal reproduction of the National Flag; it is a couture interpretation using tricolour-inspired elements."

She went into detail on the distinctions she says were deliberate. "The differences in colour shades, orientation, proportions, materials, and especially the central emblem are substantial and intentional for theatrical stage impact under coloured lights," she said. "It deliberately alters the shades, turns the horizontal bands vertical, changes the emblem into a piece of jewellery, and covers everything in sequins and fringe so that it reads as glamorous couture under stage lights rather than as a national flag, with the orange not being true saffron, the green being a different version, and the emblem being different when examined against the official specifications."

What the law actually says

The display and use of the Indian National Flag are governed by the Flag Code of India, 2002, alongside the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971.

Under the 1971 Act, showing disrespect to the National Flag is defined to include using it as a portion of any costume, uniform or accessory worn below the waist, and embroidering or printing it on dress material. The Act also lists intentionally allowing the flag to touch the ground or floor, or trail in water, among prohibited acts.

Crucially, the Act defines the "Indian National Flag" broadly, to include any picture, painting, drawing or other visible representation of the flag, or of any part of it, made of or represented on any substance. Publicly insulting or showing disrespect to the National Flag can attract imprisonment of up to three years, a fine, or both.

Two points are worth noting for context. The offence generally turns on intent and on the act occurring in public view. Whether a tricolour-inspired couture interpretation amounts to a "visible representation" of the flag under the Act, or sits outside it as Rautela contends, is precisely the point of disagreement. No official complaint or legal action has been reported in connection with the gown.