Famous slogans of India’s freedom struggle and who gave them
"Inquilab Zindabad", "Swaraj is my birthright", "Do or die", "Give me blood" — famous freedom-struggle slogans, who gave them and when.
Rohit Tandon · 8 October 2026 · 3 min read
India's fight for freedom was not only a fight of marches and prisons — it was also a fight fought with the power of words. Some words were so powerful that they were on the lips of crores of people and became the identity of the movement. "Which was India's first slogan?" has no single official answer, but some slogans of the freedom movement became immortal. Here are the famous ones and the stories behind them.
Famous slogans at a glance
| Slogan | Linked with | Background |
|---|---|---|
| Vande Mataram ("I bow to thee, Mother") | Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay | A song from the novel "Anandamath" (1882); it rang out in the protests against the Partition of Bengal (1905) |
| Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it | Bal Gangadhar Tilak | The period of the Home Rule movement |
| Inquilab Zindabad | Maulana Hasrat Mohani (coined it); made popular by Bhagat Singh and his comrades | The 1920s |
| Simon Go Back | A nationwide protest | The boycott of the Simon Commission in 1928 |
| Do or Die | Mahatma Gandhi | 8 August 1942, the Quit India movement |
| Give me blood, and I will give you freedom | Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose | 1944, the Azad Hind Fauj |
| Dilli Chalo ("On to Delhi") | Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose | The call of the Azad Hind Fauj |
| Jai Hind | The Azad Hind Fauj and Netaji | A greeting still used across the country |
The story of "Inquilab Zindabad"
"Inquilab Zindabad" means "Long live the revolution". The slogan was given around 1921 by the Urdu poet and freedom fighter Maulana Hasrat Mohani. Later Bhagat Singh and his comrades made it their own — they raised this very slogan after throwing bombs in the Central Legislative Assembly in 1929.
"Do or Die"
On 8 August 1942, at the Gowalia Tank ground in Bombay (Mumbai) — now called August Kranti Maidan — Mahatma Gandhi gave the call to "Quit India" and told the people: "Do or die". The very next day Gandhiji and the top Congress leaders were arrested, yet the movement spread across the whole country.
Did you know? "Satyameva Jayate" — "Truth alone triumphs" — is taken from the Mundaka Upanishad. It is India's national motto, written below the national emblem.
Famous slogans after independence
- Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan ("Hail the soldier, hail the farmer"): Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri gave this slogan in 1965 to honour soldiers and farmers.
- Jai Vigyan ("Hail science"): in 1998, after the Pokhran tests, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee added "Jai Vigyan" to "Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan".
"Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna"
"Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamare dil mein hai" ("the desire to sacrifice our lives is now in our hearts") — this famous ghazal was written by Bismil Azimabadi. The revolutionary Ram Prasad Bismil of the Kakori case and his comrades sang it so often that it became the anthem of the whole movement.
Why are slogans so powerful?
A good slogan is short, easy to remember and full of feeling. The unlettered and the educated, village and city — everyone can shout it together. That is why, in the freedom movement, slogans brought people together and gave them courage.
Read more: Lal Bahadur Shastri · Mahatma Gandhi · History questions.
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