NEW DELHI, Nov. 10 -- Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday said the organisation respects the Tricolour and sought to dispel the perception that the Sangh prefers its own Bhagwa Dwaj or saffron flag and said that the Sangh does not need to be registered or pay tax as it is a "body of individuals". Answering a question on whether the Sangh favours its own flag over the Tricolour, on day two of his public lecture series in Bengaluru, Bhagwat said the Sangh adopted its Bhagwa Dwaj in 1925, when the organisation was set up. "The national flag was designed in 1933. The flag committee had unanimously recommended a traditional bhagwa (saffron) flag. But then (Mahatma) Gandhiji intervened and for some reason, he said three colours, saffron on the top. Since its creation, Sangh has always respected, paid respect to and protected the Tricolour," he said. Bhagwat also pointed out that the Communist Party also has its own red flag , and the Congress has a tricolour with charkha. "...The Republican Party has a blue flag. So we have our Bhagwa and we respect our national flag," the Sangh chief said. In the wake of the Congress government in Karnataka, seeking a ban on the RSS's activities and questioning why the organisation is not registered, Bhagwat said, even Hindu Dharma is not registered. He asserted that the Sangh's legal status is within the Constitution. "RSS was established in 1925, so do you expect us to have registered with the British government?...After Independence, the government of India did not make registration compulsory.We are categorised as a body of individuals, and we are a recognised organisation," he said. Taking a pot shot at the Congress he also said, "We were banned thrice. So the government has recognised us. If we were not there, who did they ban?" The RSS chief went on to add that the Income Tax department and the courts have also termed the organisation as a body of individuals and therefore exempt from paying tax. Bhagwat said there is no bar on persons of any faith or caste from visiting the Shakha or the local units of the Sangh, the ideological mentor of the BJP....