The Nishaan Comes to Panaji: Goa Police and the President's Colour

Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah presented the President's Colour to the Goa Police at Panaji on 7 September 2026, in the presence of Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant and Union Minister of State Shri Shripad Yesso Naik. The Home Minister called it a national recognition of eight decades of service, and paid tribute to four policemen who died in the line of duty — Balaram Shinde, Abhishek Sher, Shailesh Gaonkar and Vishwas B. Deykar.

The Colour is a ceremonial object, but the questions it generates are precise: what it is, who presents it, who got it first, and which police forces hold it. This piece covers that, and then the operational story the Home Minister told about Goa.

What a Colour is

Armies have carried flags into battle for as long as they have existed; the Colours of a regiment were the rallying point in the smoke of a battlefield, and losing them was the worst disgrace a unit could suffer. The tradition passed from the British Indian Army into independent India, where the President's Colour — the Nishaan — became the highest honour that can be conferred on a military unit, presented by the President in the capacity of Supreme Commander of the Defence Forces under Article 53(2) of the Constitution.

The Indian Navy was the first service to receive it, from Dr Rajendra Prasad on 27 May 1951. Since then it has gone to army regiments, naval commands, ships and establishments, and air force squadrons and stations — always for a sustained record of exceptional service, never for a single action. The ceremony is a parade with a consecration of the Colour, a trooping past the ranks and a general salute; units that hold it may wear its insignia on their uniform.

Police forces receive the parallel President's Police Colour. The President may present it in person, as President Droupadi Murmu did for Sikkim this year, or through the Home Minister or a Governor — which is what happened in Panaji.

Police forces on the list

State police forces that hold the President's Colour are few. The commonly cited roll includes:

Goa Police now joins that company. The exam's favourite trick is to ask which force was first — Uttar Pradesh, not Delhi — or to set the Navy's 1951 date against the Army or the Air Force.

Why Goa is a special policing case

Goa was liberated on 19 December 1961 in Operation Vijay and became a State on 30 May 1987 under the Goa, Daman and Diu Reorganisation Act, 1987. The Home Minister's point was that Goa carries three responsibilities at once — a safe city, a safe community and a secure maritime border — and that the responsibility for Goa's coastline rests with the State police.

Coastal policing is a post-26/11 discipline. After the Mumbai attacks of November 2008, India built a three-tier coastal security arrangement: the Indian Navy in the outer layer, the Indian Coast Guard in the middle, and State marine police in the inner layer, with marine police stations, interceptor boats and a Centre-funded coastal security scheme. Goa's roughly 100-km coastline, its port and its tourist beaches make the inner layer a daily task rather than an exercise. The Home Minister said the Tourist Police Wing could be a model for other tourism-heavy States, and that with a population of over 15 lakh and a long coast, fitness — Goa Police's football tradition included — is an operational need.

The numbers Shah cited

• Under the emergency helpline 112, the Goa Police response time has fallen from 18 minutes to 8 minutes, with prompt help in nearly 20,000 calls; the aim is under 6 minutes as more vehicles arrive.
• The conviction rate rose from 23% to 53% of FIRs in a single year — a jump of 30 percentage points.
• On implementing the three new criminal codes, Goa was ranked first in the country for several months and now stands second at 93.38% progress, performing well across all nine parameters.
• The 1930 cyber-fraud helpline — run nationally by the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Home Ministry — will, in Goa, be answered by an AI-based call agent that registers complaints not just in Konkani, Marathi and Hindi but in all languages of the Eighth Schedule, routing each to the right authority. Konkani itself entered the Eighth Schedule through the 71st Amendment in 1992, which is why the schedules page is worth a look alongside this story.
• A 2026–2029 roadmap to make every village and city free of narcotics has been prepared by the Home Ministry.
• The International Police Sports Championship will be held in India in 2029; the Home Minister asked Goa Police to prepare now, beyond its traditional strength in football.

The three laws, in one paragraph

The "Nyaya Sanhitas" the Home Minister praised are the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (replacing the Indian Penal Code, 1860), the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (replacing the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973) and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (replacing the Indian Evidence Act, 1872). All three came into force on 1 July 2024. Their implementation is measured on parameters such as e-FIR, forensic visits for serious offences, video-recording of searches, and time-bound charge-sheets and judgments — the "technology, sensitivity, prioritisation and speedy justice" he listed. Goa's 93.38% score is on that scorecard, and the Home Minister's larger claim was that linking jails, forensic laboratories, courts, police stations and hospitals through technology is what makes speedy justice possible.

The wider claim

The Home Minister set the ceremony in the same frame as the government's diplomacy: the Prime Minister visited 22 countries in a year while about 15 heads of state came to India; India had concluded nine Free Trade Agreements covering 38 countries by 2026, including with the UAE, Australia, the United Kingdom, Oman, New Zealand and the European Union; GDP growth in the first quarter of the year was 7.8%. For the constitutional position of the President as Supreme Commander, the union executive notes explain why the Colour is presented in the President's name, and the post-independence history notes cover Goa's liberation and the road to statehood.

🔑 Revision block

The event. President's Colour to Goa Police, Panaji, 7 September 2026, presented by Home Minister Amit Shah; Goa CM Pramod Sawant present. What it is. Highest honour for a military unit, presented by the President as Supreme Commander (Article 53(2)); also called the Nishaan. Firsts. Indian Navy, 27 May 1951, from Dr Rajendra Prasad; Uttar Pradesh Police, 23 November 1952, first State force; Delhi Police 1954. Recent police recipients. Gujarat 2019, Himachal 2021, Assam and Tamil Nadu 2022, Haryana 2023, Chhattisgarh 2024, Sikkim May 2026 (15th State), Goa September 2026. Goa facts. Liberated 19 December 1961 (Operation Vijay); Statehood 30 May 1987; Konkani in the Eighth Schedule via the 71st Amendment, 1992. Figures. 112 response 18 → 8 minutes; conviction 23% → 53%; new criminal codes 93.38%, 2nd in India; AI agent on 1930 in all Eighth Schedule languages. Laws. BNS, BNSS, BSA — in force 1 July 2024, replacing IPC 1860, CrPC 1973, Evidence Act 1872. Coastal security. Three tiers — Navy, Coast Guard, State marine police — after 26/11.

🎯 Practice MCQs

Q1. The first Indian service to receive the President's Colour was the: (a) Indian Army (b) Indian Navy (c) Indian Air Force (d) Indian Coast Guard → (b) — 27 May 1951.

Q2. The President's Colour was presented to the Indian Navy by: (a) Jawaharlal Nehru (b) C. Rajagopalachari (c) Dr Rajendra Prasad (d) Dr S. Radhakrishnan → (c).

Q3. The first State police force to receive the President's Colour was: (a) Delhi Police (b) Maharashtra Police (c) Uttar Pradesh Police (d) Tamil Nadu Police → (c) — 1952.

Q4. The President is the Supreme Commander of the Defence Forces under Article: (a) 52 (b) 53 (c) 72 (d) 74 → (b) — Article 53(2).

Q5. Goa was liberated in Operation Vijay in: (a) 1947 (b) 1954 (c) 1961 (d) 1987 → (c).

Q6. Goa attained Statehood on: (a) 19 December 1961 (b) 26 January 1971 (c) 30 May 1987 (d) 15 August 1992 → (c).

Q7. Konkani was added to the Eighth Schedule by the: (a) 21st Amendment (b) 71st Amendment (c) 92nd Amendment (d) 100th Amendment → (b) — 1992, along with Manipuri and Nepali.

Q8. The national cyber-fraud helpline number is: (a) 100 (b) 112 (c) 1930 (d) 1098 → (c).

Q9. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita replaced the: (a) Code of Criminal Procedure (b) Indian Evidence Act (c) Indian Penal Code (d) Police Act → (c).

Q10. The three new criminal laws came into force on: (a) 26 January 2024 (b) 1 July 2024 (c) 15 August 2024 (d) 1 January 2025 → (b).

Q11. In India's three-tier coastal security arrangement, the innermost layer is manned by the: (a) Indian Navy (b) Indian Coast Guard (c) State marine police (d) Border Security Force → (c).

Q12. Consider the following: 1. Sikkim Police received the President's Colour in May 2026. 2. The Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre functions under the Ministry of Electronics and IT. (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both (d) Neither → (a) — I4C is under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

📋 How this gets asked (PYQ pattern)

Ceremonial-honour questions take three shapes. The first item — which service or force received the President's Colour first, with the Army planted as the distractor. The authority item — the President as Supreme Commander, tested through the Article number or through who presents the Colour. The State-fact item — Goa's liberation year, statehood date or Konkani's schedule entry, each with a neighbouring year offered as bait.

The fresh 2026 hook is Goa Police, likeliest to appear alongside Sikkim Police (May 2026) in a "which of the following received the Colour in 2026" question, or as a statement pair on the 1930 helpline and the new criminal codes. We describe the recurring pattern, not any exact past question.

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✍️ Written by Maj Sunil Chopra — Co-founder and defence GK faculty at The Cavalier. Reviewed by the Cavalier Faculty Desk. The Cavalier, founded by ex-Army officers, has trained NDA/CDS/SSB aspirants since 2001 (Facebook · YouTube).

Source: PIB / Ministry of Home Affairs, 7 September 2026. President's Colour history and police recipients cross-verified with Rashtrapati Bhavan releases and independent sources.