Millions gather at Medaram near Chilkalgutta for the three-day jatara festival. Among them, Koya families bring old legacy flags called ‘padaga’ or ‘dalugudda’. Some flags are decades or even a century old. These triangular flags tell the story of each family’s gattu or gotra. "Now, I and my brother are the only flagmakers. I have been doing this for 10 years," says Tholem Kalyan. His brother, Tholem Venkateswarlu, has been making flags for 20 years in Aswapuram Mandal, Bhadradri Kothagudem district. When Telangana government redesigned the Samakka Saralamma platforms, the brothers’ flags helped sculptors shape their work. The flags feature symbols like bulls, elephants, humans, and geometric shapes. "We buy red cloth from Kothagudem after a family requests a flag. Each flag has over 90 images," explains Mr. Kalyan. The flag-making takes up to three months. Over 100 Koya families use these flags to share their history. Folk artists called artikalakarlu sing and narrate family stories using the flags as visual guides. Ethnographer Jayadheer Tirumala Rao says the flags are rich in symbolism, often showing snakes, Hanuman, the sun, moon, and stars. As families assemble, the folk artists recount tales of creation from a cracked egg, great ancestral battles, and magical beings. This oral tradition keeps the Koya tribe’s history alive and vibrant for new generations.