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Naam Tamilar Katchi (India)

We Are Tamils Party

image by Tomislav Todorovic, 26 June 2016

Description of the flag

See also:

Description of the flag

Naam Tamilar Katchi ("We Are Tamils Party") is a Tamil nationalist party which was originally founded in 1958 by the lawyer S. P. Adithan Nadar (also known as Adithanar), with the goal of creating an independent Tamil state, which would comprise Tamil-speaking areas of India and Sri Lanka. Following poor election results, the party allied itself with the Dravida Munnetra Kazagham and eventually merged into it in 1967. In 2009, it was refounded by former movie director and actor Senthamizhan Seeman under the name Naam Tamilar Iyakkam ("We Are Tamils Organization") and readopted the original name in 2010. The refounded party and its leader have been known for strong support to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Party flag is red, charged with the tiger head in proper colors surrounded with golden rays [1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. It is clearly derived from the flag of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam but omits the rifles and tiger's paws and replaces the circle of bullets with simple rays. There is also a vertical variant of the flag, which seems to be rarely used [9]. The size of emblem may vary somewhat; it is usually smaller when the words *NAAM TAMILAR* are inscribed in Tamil in the bottom, usually in white [5, 11, 12], but also in gold [14].

image by Tomislav Todorovic, 26 June 2016

The original party flag [2, 15, 16] was displaying a leaping demi-tiger instead of the head only. The tiger was chosen as the
symbol of medieval Chola dynasty [15]. It was not used for a long time - the current flag ha appeared as early as in 2011 [17].

Sources:
[1] Naam Tamilar Katchi at Wikipedia (in English) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naam_Tamilar_Katchi
[2] Naam Tamilar Katchi at Wikipedia (in Tamil): https://ta.wikipedia.org/wiki/
[3] Adithanar's biography at Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S._P._Adithanar
[4] Seeman's biography at Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seeman_(politician)
[5] Naam Tamilar Katchi website: http://www.naamtamilar.org/
[6] Naam Tamilar Katchi website: http://www.naamtamilar.org/
[7] Naam Tamilar Katchi website: http://www.naamtamilar.org/
[8] Naam Tamilar Katchi website: http://www.naamtamilar.org/
[9] Naam Tamilar Katchi website: http://www.naamtamilar.org/
[10] Naam Tamilar Katchi website: http://www.naamtamilar.org/
[11] Naam Tamilar Katchi website: http://www.naamtamilar.org/
[12] Naam Tamilar Katchi website: http://www.naamtamilar.org/
[13] OneIndia portal - section in Tamil language: http://tamil.oneindia.com/news/india/naam-tamilar-party-protest-front-salman-khan-s-house-218275.html
[14] ILuvCinema.in website: http://www.iluvcinema.in/tamil/naam-tamilar-katchi-ina-ezhuchi-manadu-trichy-photos/
[15] Kolly Talk website: http://www.kollytalk.com/cinenews/seemans-naam-tamilar-party-flag-unveiled-1259.html
[16] Moviegalleri website: http://moviegalleri.net/2010/05/madurai-naam-thamizhar-maanadu-photos-seeman-naam-tamilar-manadu-stills.html
[17] The Hindu newspaper online edition - issue of 2011-12-27: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/mullaperiyar-dam-issue-protests-continue/article2750775.ece

Tomislav Todorovic, 26 June 2016