| People's Republic of Bangladesh | |
| Nickname: | The Red & Green Bengali: লাল সবুজ|Lāl Sôbuj |
| Use: | 111000 |
| Proportion: | 3:5 |
| Design: | A red disc slightly off centre to hoist (left as depicted) defacing a dark green banner. |
| Designer: | Quamrul Hassan |
| Imagetext2: | Civil ensign of Bangladesh |
| Use2: | Civil ensign |
| Design2: | A Red Ensign with the national flag of Bangladesh in the canton. |
| Image4: | Naval Ensign of Bangladesh.svg |
| Imagetext4: | Naval ensign of Bangladesh |
| Use4: | Naval ensign |
| Design4: | A White Ensign with the national flag of Bangladesh in the canton. |
| Use5: | Air force ensign |
| Image5: | Air Force Ensign of Bangladesh.svg |
| Proportion5: | 1:2 |
| Design5: | A field of air force blue with the national flag of Bangladesh in the canton and the Bangladesh Air Force roundel in the middle of the fly. |
| Image6: | Flag of Bangladesh (1971).svg |
| Imagetext6: | Flag used during the Liberation War (1971) |
| Adoption6: | 2 March 1971 |
| Use6: | Former flag |
| Design6: | A red disc with a golden outline of Bangladesh on a green banner. |
| Designer6: | Shib Narayan Das |
The National Flag of Bangladesh was adopted officially on 17 January 1972. It consists of a red circle on top of a dark green banner. The red circle is offset slightly toward the hoist so that it appears centred when the flag is flying. While there are many interpretations, the green on the flag represents the lushness of landscape and the red circle symbolises blood of martyrs.[1]
The flag is based on a similar flag used during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, which had a yellow map of the country inside the red disc. In 1972, this map was removed from the flag. One reason given was the difficulty for rendering the map correctly on both sides of the flag. The civil ensign and naval ensign place it in the canton of a red or white field, respectively.
The first version of the flag was designed and made by a section of student leaders and activists of Swadheen Bangla Nucleus on 6 June 1970, at room 108 of Iqbal Hall (now Sergeant Zahurul Haq hall), Dhaka University; students involved with the design were namely Kazi Aref Ahmed, ASM Abdur Rab, Shahjahan Siraj, Manirul Islam (Marshal Moni), Swapan Kumar Choudhury, Quamrul Alam Khan Khasru, Hasanul Haq Inu, and Yousuf Salahuddin Ahmed. The flag was made from clothes donated by Bazlur Rahman Lasker, the owner of Apollo Tailors, Dhaka New Market.[2]
A map of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) was first traced on a tracing paper from an atlas by Hasanul Haq Inu, Yousuf Salahuddin Ahmed and Enamul Haq, at Enamul's room (312) in Quaid-I Azam Hall (now Titumir Hall), EPUET (now BUET).[3] [4] Later, the map was painted in the red circle by Shib Narayan Das.[5] On 2 March 1971, this initial version of the flag was hoisted in Bangladesh for the first time at Dhaka University, by student leader A. S. M. Abdur Rab, the then Vice President of Dhaka University Students' Union (DUCSU)[6] The flag was conceived so as to exclude the star and crescent considered as symbols of West Pakistan (now Pakistan).
On 26 July 1971, Zakaria Pintoo, captain of the Shadhin Bangla Football Team became the first person to hoist the Bangladesh flag on foreign soil, before a match in Nadia district of the Indian state of West Bengal.[7]
On 13 January 1972, the flag was modified. The map from the centre was removed, and the red disk moved towards the hoist so as to be visually centred when the flag is in flight on a mast.
According to CIA World Fact Book[8] [9] and official descriptions, the green used in the flag represents the lushness of the green landscape of the country[10] [11] and the red disk of the flag represents the blood the Bengalis shed during the Bangladesh Liberation War and the blood of those who died for the independence of Bangladesh. An alternative description says that the green background represents the youth power and progress, while the red disk represents the revolution and renaissance. The circularity of the red design indicates the rising sun, similar to the Japanese flag.
The national flag of Bangladesh is flown on all working days on important government buildings and offices, e.g., the president house, legislative assembly buildings, etc. All ministries and the secretariat buildings of Bangladesh, offices of the high court, courts of district and session judges, offices of the commissioners of divisions, deputy commissioner/collectors, chairman, upazila parishad, central and district jails, police stations, primary, secondary and higher secondary level educational institutions and other buildings notified by the government from time to time.Ministers of state and persons accorded the status of a minister of state, deputy ministers and persons accorded the status of a deputy minister while on tour outside the capital within the country or abroad are entitled to fly the flag on their motor vehicles and vessels.[13]
The following persons must fly the flag on their official residence:[13]
The following persons are entitled to fly the flag on their motor vehicles and vessels:[13]
The national flag of Bangladesh is flown on public and private buildings throughout Bangladesh and the office premises of Bangladeshi diplomatic missions and consular posts on the following days and occasions:[13]
The national flag of Bangladesh is flown at half-mast on the following days:[13]
On 16 December 2013, the 42nd Victory Day of Bangladesh, 27,117 people gathered at the National Parade Ground in Dhaka's Sher-e-Bangla Nagar and created a "human flag" which was recorded in Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest human national flag.[15] [16] [17] This feat was short, however, as India topped the record on 7 December 2014 with 43,830 people participating to achieve the new world record for largest human national flag.[18]
In July 2021, Saimon Imran Hayder used 16,000 envelopes to create a 240m2 Bangladesh flag at the InterContinental Dhaka which was also a Guinness World Records attempt.[19] [20]
| Flag | Date | Use | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1206–1352 | Flag of the Delhi Sultanate according to the Catalan Atlas (1375) | A dark grey flag with a black strip left of centre. | ||
| 1352–1576 | A white flag with two red strips at the top and bottom. | |||
| 1576–1717 | Flag of the Mughals | Mughal Empire Alam flag that was primarily moss green.[21] | ||
| 1717–1757 | Flag of the Bengal Nawab | A white flag with three red barrels and a red sword.[22] |
| Flag | Date | Use | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1858–1947 | The official state flag of the British Empire for use in India | The Flag of the United Kingdom. | ||
| 1885–1947 | The Union Jack with the insignia of the Order of the Star of India beneath the Imperial Crown of India. | |||
| 1880–1947 | Flag of the British Raj A civilian flag used to represent British India internationally. | A Red Ensign with the Union Flag at the canton, and the Star of India displayed in the fly. | ||
| –1947 | A Blue Ensign with the Union Flag at the canton, and the Bengal Presidency Emblem displayed in the fly. | |||
| 1947–1971 | Green flag with a white crescent and star on it, and a white strip to its left. See List of Pakistani flags for more. | |||
| March – December 1971 | Flag of Mukti Bahini (Liberation Forces) | A flag with a red background, a white disk and a hand holding a rifle- bayonet in the middle. | ||
| 1971–1972 | Flag of Provisional Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, used after independence too. In recent years often used during protests as a legacy symbol of the original vision of the country during the liberation war. | A flag with a green background, a red disk and a yellow map of the country in the middle | ||
| 1971–1972 | Reverse of flag of Provisional Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, used after independence too. | A flag with a green background, a red disk and a yellow map of the country in the middle | ||
| 1972–present | National flag of Bangladesh | A red disc on top of a green field, offset slightly toward the hoist. |
