SlogansFamous slogans of India's freedom movement
These slogans were not written by us. They belong to the history of India, and each is listed with the person linked to it and the year. Use this page for projects, quizzes, speeches and to settle arguments about who said what.
Where historians credit one person with coining a slogan and another with making it famous, both are named.
The freedom struggle
वन्दे मातरम्
"I bow to thee, Mother." From his song in the novel Anandamath (1882). It became the rallying cry of the Swadeshi movement from 1905 and is India's national song.
Bankim Chandra ChattopadhyaySwaraj is my birthright, and I shall have it.
Declared during the Home Rule movement of 1916. Swaraj means self-rule.
Bal Gangadhar TilakInquilab Zindabad
"Long live the revolution." Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt shouted it in the Central Legislative Assembly on 8 April 1929.
Coined by Maulana Hasrat Mohani, 1921. Made famous by Bhagat Singh, 1929Simon Go Back
Raised when the all-British Simon Commission arrived in India without a single Indian member.
Protesters against the Simon Commission, 1928. Credited to Yusuf MeherallyDo or Die
"Karo ya Maro." Given in his Quit India speech in Bombay on 8 August 1942.
Mahatma GandhiQuit India
"Bharat Chhodo." The call for the British to leave India, launched on 8 August 1942.
The Quit India Movement, 1942. The phrase is credited to Yusuf MeherallyGive me blood, and I shall give you freedom!
"Tum mujhe khoon do, main tumhe azadi dunga." From his address to the Indian National Army in Burma in 1944.
Subhas Chandra BoseDilli Chalo
"On to Delhi." The marching call of the Indian National Army.
Subhas Chandra BoseJai Hind
"Victory to India." Adopted as the greeting of the Indian National Army, and still India's salute.
Credited to Zain-ul-Abideen Hasan. Made famous by Subhas Chandra Boseसत्यमेव जयते
"Truth alone triumphs." Adopted as the national motto of India on 26 January 1950. It is written below the State Emblem.
Mundaka Upanishad
After independence
Jai Jawan Jai Kisan
"Hail the soldier, hail the farmer." Given by the Prime Minister during the 1965 war, when the country also faced a food shortage.
Lal Bahadur Shastri, 1965Aaram Haram Hai
A call to work hard for the new nation: rest is forbidden while work remains.
Jawaharlal NehruJai Jawan Jai Kisan Jai Vigyan
He added "Jai Vigyan" (hail science) to Shastri's slogan after the Pokhran nuclear tests of May 1998.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee, 1998
Nothing matches. Try a shorter word, or choose All.
How to use this page
Each entry gives the slogan, the person or movement linked to it, and a note with the year and the meaning. For a project or a quiz, copy all three. Where the words were first said in Hindi, Urdu or Sanskrit, the note gives the original or its meaning, since exam questions are asked both ways.
Why slogans mattered in the freedom struggle
Most Indians of that time could not read newspapers, and the radio was in government hands. A slogan needed neither. It could travel from a meeting to a village by word of mouth in a day, be shouted by people who shared no common language, and be remembered for life. A few words such as "Quit India" or "Dilli Chalo" told a whole crowd what the movement wanted and what to do next. That is why leaders chose them with care, and why the British authorities often treated shouting them as an offence.
Coined by one, made famous by another
Several famous slogans are credited to one person and remembered with another. "Inquilab Zindabad" and "Jai Hind" are the best known cases, and both are explained in the questions below. In a quiz, read the question carefully: "who coined" and "who popularised" can have different answers. This page names both wherever historians do.
Using historic slogans today
- In a speech or prabhat pheri, say them as they were said. Do not change the words.
- On a chart, write the name and year beneath each one.
- Do not attach them to a product, a party or a campaign of your own. They belong to everyone.
- New slogans for 15 August and 26 January are on the national days page.
A note on sources
The attributions here follow standard school histories of the freedom movement. Historians do differ on a few points of who first used a phrase, and where that is so the entry says "credited to". We have left out slogans whose origin we could not state with confidence.
Using these slogans
- In a school project, write the slogan, the person and the year together. Examiners look for all three.
Questions
Who gave the slogan Inquilab Zindabad?
It was coined by the poet and freedom fighter Maulana Hasrat Mohani in 1921. Bhagat Singh and his comrades made it famous in 1929.
Who gave the slogan Jai Hind?
It is credited to Zain-ul-Abideen Hasan (Abid Hasan Safrani), an associate of Subhas Chandra Bose. Bose adopted it for the Indian National Army and made it famous.
Who gave the slogan Jai Jawan Jai Kisan?
Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, in 1965.