5 Points On 'Madonna Oriflamma': Painting In Rahul's Inked Selfie With Sonia Gandhi

Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son, MP Rahul Gandhi voted on Saturday during the sixth phase of polling in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections 2024.

Soon after casting their votes, Rahul Gandhi shared a selfie of himself and his mother, showing their inked fingers, on X (formerly Twitter).

In no time, the picture went viral, with a few claiming that he had a photo of Jesus Christ in his room, but none of the Hindu Gods, while pointing out a frame behind them.

But later, a fact check by The Quint revealed that it is a painting titled "Madonna Oriflamma".

Here are a few facts about the "Madonna Oriflamma":

• Madonna Oriflamma is a 1932 painting by Russian painter Nicholas Roerich. The painting features a person holding a banner with three red dots, surrounded by a red circle.
• Nicholas Roerich created the painting as a symbol of human unity and called the geometrical art the "Banner of Peace".
• Russian painter and writer Nicholas Roerich, aka Nikolai Konstantinovich Rerikh, was born in 1874. Throughout his career, he has involved himself in the problems of cultural preservation.
• This original art is on display at the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York. As per the official Nicholas Roerich's website, the painting has been on loan to the museum since 1960.
• This Banner of Peace emblem was integral to the Roerich Pact, an international treaty initiated by Roerich, aimed at protecting cultural artefacts during times of war​ and conflict. 
• In 2021, the official Facebook page of the museum also shared a picture of this painting, stating, "Ever wonder what the symbol of the three dots means? It appears in this painting, "Madonna Oriflamma" (1932) and as the symbol for the Roerich Pact and Banner of Peace."