Flag_of_Bangladesh

Flag of Bangladesh

Use	National flag.
Proportion	3:5
Adopted	January 17, 1972
Design	A red disc on a green field.
Designed by	Quamrul Hassan

The first flag of an Independent Bangladesh with the country map that does not exist in the current flag.

The national flag of Bangladesh was adopted officially on January 17, 1972. It is based on a similar flag used during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. The map was later deleted from the flag by the order of General Manzur, most likely to simplify the design^{citation needed}. A red disc is on top of the green field, offset slightly toward the hoist so that it appears centered 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 green represents the greenery of the country, its vitality and youthfulness. The red disc is a symbol of the rising Sun of independence after the dark night of a blood-drenched struggle.¹

Origin

The original flag was designed by painter Quamrul Hassan. On the 2 March 1971, the initial version of the flag was hoisted in Bangladesh for the first time at the Dhaka University.² On the declaration of Independence on March 26, 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman flew the flag in his residence.

The flag was conceived so as to exclude the crescent and the star considered as symbols of West Pakistan. According to Flags of the World, the green used in the flag does not represent the traditional colours of Islam, contrary to some western sources (such as the CIA World Fact Book)¹³. Rather, the green colour was chosen to represent the lushness of the natural landscape of Bangladesh. The current flag resembles the flag of Japan with the background a different color.

The map was removed from the flag in 1972. One reason given was the difficulty rendering the map correctly on both sides of the flag.¹

Official specifications

According to Bangladesh Government specifications⁴, following is the specification of the national flag:

Colour

(a) The green base of the flag will be of Procion Brilliant Green H-2RS 50 parts per 1000. (b) The red circular part will be of Procion Brilliant Orange H-2RS 60 parts per 1000.⁵

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Flag of Bangladesh, Flags of the World.
^ Glassie, Henry and Mahmud, Feroz.2008.Living Traditions. Cultural Survey of Bangladesh Series-II. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Dhaka. p.580
^ "Lonely Planet: Bangladesh", 4th Edition, Lonely Planet Publications,(December 2000), ISBN 0-86442-667-4.
^ PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF BANGLADESH FLAG RULES, 1972 (Revised up to March 1981), Government of Bangladesh, Cabinet Division
^ Bangladesh Flag Rules, 1972 (Revised up to July 2005)