Doordarshan changes logo colour from red to saffron, sparks row

National broadcaster Doordarshan has changed the colour of its historic flagship logo from red to saffron. The announcement was made through the official X handle of DD News, which in a post, said, "While our values remain the same, we are now available in a new avatar."

"Get ready for a news journey like never before.. Experience the all-new DD News!" it added.

However, the Opposition is seeing red over the change.

The move was slammed by member of the Rajya Sabha and ex-CEO of Prasar Bharati (DD, AIR), Jawhar Sircar, who said he has been watching the national broadcaster's "saffronisation".

"National broadcaster Doordarshan colours its historic flagship logo in saffron! As its ex-CEO, I have been watching its saffronisation with alarm and feel — it's not Prasar Bharati any more — it's Prachar Bharati!” (sic), he wrote on X.

Congress's Manish Tewari, who was the Information and Broadcasting Minister from 2012 to 2014, alleged the logo colour change was the government's attempt to capture government institutions.

In an exclusive conversation with India Today TV, Tewari said, "This is an attempt on the part of the government to saffronism and capture the government institutuins. The said move clearly undermines the neutrality and credibility of India's public broadcaster."

In response, BJP's Andhra Pradesh state vice-president said, "When Doordarshan was launched in 1959, it had a saffron logo. Now, as the government reintroduces the original logo, liberals and Congress are outraging over it."

"It's blatantly obvious they harbor hate against 'Bhagwa' and Hindus," (sic), he wrote on X.

Defending the national broadcaster's move, Prasar Bharti CEO, Gaurav Dwivedi, said that the new logo is a catchy orange colour. This is a change of visual aesthetic.

"The colour is orange, not saffron," he asserted.

"It is not just the logo that we have changed, the entire look and feel has been upgraded. It is incorrect and unfortunate that people are reading more into this. We were working on changing the look and feel of DD for the past six to eight months," he said.

Meanwhile, sources with Prasar Bharti told India Today TV that equating the new logo as a colour associated with the BJP was "incorrect".

Over the years, Doordarshan has changed the colour of its logo to blue, yellow and red. The two petals and globe at the centre of the logo, though, have remained the same.

HISTORY OF DOORDARSHAN

Doordarshan was first aired on September 15, 1959, as a public service telecasting service. It became a broadcaster with daily transmissions of morning and evening shows in 1965, having transmission in Delhi.

The services were extended to Mumbai, Amritsar and other cities by 1975.

On April 1, 1976, it came under the Information and Broadcast Ministry and in 1982, Doordarshan became the national broadcaster.

Later, in 1984, the DD network added more channels under its umbrella.

At present, Doordarshan operates six national and 17 regional channels.