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image by Tomislav Todorovic, 27 November 2010
See also:Introduction
Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (Periyar Party of
Dravidians) is a Tamil political movement which seems to be descended from the
Dravidar Kazhagam, the original organization founded by Periyar (E.V. Ramasamy),
whose ideas they claim to follow. Although most Web resources related to them
are in Tamil, from the few ones in English can be found that it is a nationalist
movement, which loudly supports Tamil separatists in Sri Lanka, and also
struggles for the emancipation of low castes in India. The things which both
organizations have in common are the use of the same colour set on the flags -
black and red - and their activists' dress code: black shirts combined with
white dhotis or trousers (black saris for women). Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam also
frequently uses Periyar's portraits, in real life as well as on the Web. [1,
2, 3]
The flags
The flag of Periyar
Dravidar Kazhagam has a large red star on black field. It is obviously derived from the flag of
Dravidar Kazhagam by
replacing the red disk with the same-coloured star. The earliest examples of its use date from 2007 [2] but it
might have been introduced a bit earlier. At that time, another flag design
was also used (see below), but by 2009, this seems to have become the only
flag in use [3].
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 27 November 2010
In 2007 [2], a black-red-black horizontal triband was
also frequently used. This is the reversal
of the colour pattern from the flag of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra
Kazhagam, another party from Tamil Nadu. Whether
this suggests that one flag was derived from the other, or that one political
organization was founded by the members or former members of the other, is
yet to discover, although members of both organizations do seem to work
together sometimes [3].
Sources:
[1] Wikipedia page about Dravidar
Kazhagam: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dravidar_Kazhagam
[2]
Earlier blog of Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (entries from 2007):
http://periyardravidarkazhagam.blogspot.com/
[3] Later blog of Periyar
Dravidar Kazhagam (entries from 2009):
http://periyardravidarkazagam.blogspot.com
Tomislav Todorovic, 27 November 2010
The first flag you attached is exactly the same flag that U.S. music band
Rage Against The Machine uses as variant as
well
http://socialpsychologyeye.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/450px-flag_of_the_ezln-svg.png,
source:
http://socialpsychologyeye.wordpress.com/2009/12/21/f-you-i-wont-do-what-you-tell-me-rage-against-the-pop-machine,
which is the EZLN flag.
Esteban Rivera, 28
November 2010