Flag of Bangladesh

The national **flag of Bangladesh** (Bengali: বাংলাদেশের জাতীয় পতাকা pronounced [baŋlad̪eʃer dʒat̪ie̯o pɔt̪aka]) was adopted officially on 17 January 1972. It consists of a red disc on top of a green field, offset slightly toward the hoist so that it appears centred when the flag is flying. The red disc represents the sun rising over Bengal, and also the blood of those who died for the independence of Bangladesh. The green field stands for the lushness of the land of Bangladesh.

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.

## Origin

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, Yousuf Salahuddin Ahmed and few others.[*Citation needed*] The flag was made from clothes donated by Bazlur Rahman Lasker, the owner of Apollo Tailors, Dhaka New Market.

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. Later the map was painted in the red circle by Shib Narayan Das. 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) The flag was conceived so as to exclude the crescent and the star considered as symbols of West Pakistan.

According to *CIA World Fact Book*, the green used in the flag represent the lushness of the green landscape of the country. On January 13, 1972 the flag was modified. The map from the center was removed and the red disk was moved towards the hoist. The red in the center is symbolic representation of the blood Bengalis shed in the Bangladesh Liberation War.

## Design

Construction guide for ***Flag of Bangladesh***

 Procion (official specification)
 Pantone | 342c
 CMYK | 100-0-70-40

According to Bangladeshi government specifications, following is the specification of the national flag:

* The flag will be in bottle green and rectangular in size in the proportion of 10:6, with a red circle in near middle.
* The red circle will have a radius of one-fifth of the length of the flag. Its centre will be placed on the intersecting point of the perpendicular drawn from the nine-twentieth part of the length of the flag, and the horizontal line drawn through the middle of its width.
* The green base of the flag will be of Procion Brilliant Green H-2RS 50 parts per 1000. The red circular part will be of Procion Brilliant Orange H-2RS 60 parts per 1000.
* Depending on the size of the building the flag sizes will be 10 ft × 6 ft (3.0 m × 1.8 m); 5 ft × 3 ft (1.52 m × 0.91 m); 2 1⁄2 ft × 1 1⁄2 ft (760 mm × 460 mm). The size of the flag for cars is 12 1⁄2 in × 7 1⁄2 in (320 mm × 190 mm), and the size of the table flag for bilateral conferences is 10 in × 6 in (250 mm × 150 mm).

## Protocol

 File:Shangrami Chetona - DU - Ashfaq.jpg
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.

### Official residences

The following persons must fly the flag on their official residence:

* The President of Bangladesh
* The Prime Minister of Bangladesh
* The Speaker of the Parliament of Bangladesh
* The Chief of Justice of Bangladesh
* All Cabinet Ministers
* Chief Whip of Bangladesh
* Deputy Speaker of the Parliament
* The leader of the Opposition in Parliament
* Ministers of States
* Deputy Ministers
* Heads of Bangladeshi Diplomatic or Consular Missions in foreign countries
* Chairmen of Chittagong hill tracts (district offices of Rangamati, Khagrachari and Bandarban)

### Motor vehicles and vessels

The following persons are entitled to fly the flag on their motor vehicles and vessels:

* The President of Bangladesh
* The Prime Minister of Bangladesh
* The Speaker of the Parliament
* The Chief of Justice of Bangladesh
* All Cabinet Ministers
* Chief Whip
* Deputy Speaker of the Parliament
* The leader of the Opposition in Parliament
* Heads of Bangladeshi Diplomatic or Consular Missions in foreign countries

### Display

 File:Our Bangladesh.jpg
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:

* Independence Day on 26 March.
* Victory Day on 16 December.
* Birthday of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
* Any other day notified by the Government of Bangladesh.

### Half-mast

The national flag of Bangladesh is flown at half-mast on the following days:

* National Shaheed Day, now the International Mother Language Day, on 21 February
* All other days notified by the Government of Bangladesh.

Following days are notified by the government:

* National Mourning Day of Bangladesh on 15 August.

## World record

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 World Records* as the world’s largest human national flag.

## See also

* File:Flag of Bangladesh.svgBangladesh portal

* List of Bangladeshi flags
* National symbols of Bangladesh

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Flag of Bangladesh Archived 23 May 2006 at the Wayback Machine., Flags of the World.
2. ↑ http://www.prothom-alo.com/pachmisheli/article/98845/আমাদের\_জাতীয়\_পতাকা
3. ↑ 'সাক্ষাত্কার-ইউসুফ সালাহউদ্দিন আহমেদ', [1], ২০১৪
4. ↑ 'সাক্ষাত্কার-ইউসুফ সালাহউদ্দিন আহমেদ', [2], ২০১৪
5. ↑ 'আমাদের জাতীয় পতাকার ইতিহাস',
আমাদের সময়, ডিসেম্বর ৩, ২০০৯
6. ↑ Glassie, Henry and Mahmud, Feroz. 2008. Living Traditions. Cultural Survey of Bangladesh Series-II. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Dhaka. p.580
7. ↑ "Lonely Planet: Bangladesh", 4th Edition, Lonely Planet Publications, (December 2000), ISBN 0-86442-667-4.
8. ↑ Flag description. *The world fact book*. CIA USA. Retrieved on 3 May 2013.
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 flag of Bangladesh.
10. ↑ *Flags and anthems manual London 2012 : SPP final version / London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games*. LOCOG. London. 2012. p. 17. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
11. ↑  *Flags of the World*. Rob Raeside. Colours of the Flag [Retrieved October 20, 2017].
12. ↑  *Find a PANTONE color*. Pantone LLC. Pantone Color Picker [Retrieved 20 October 2017].
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF BANGLADESH FLAG RULES, 1972 (Revised up to 2005), Government of Bangladesh, Cabinet Division
14. ↑ AnydayGuide. National Mourning Day in Bangladesh / August 15, 2016.
15. ↑ http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2014/01/04/bangladeshs-human-flag-in-guinness-world-records
16. ↑ Archived copy. Archived from the original on 18 December 2013. Retrieved on 2013-12-16.
17. ↑ http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2013/12/16/world-largest-human-flag

## External links

* Bangladesh at Flags of the World
* Farooq, AKM (2012). "National Flag". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. *Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh* (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.