Flag 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.

While there are numerous interpretations, the most widely accepted interpretation says that the green of the flag symbolises the lush landscape of Bangladesh, and the red circle, reminiscent of the rising sun, represents the sacrifice made by the people during the Liberation War of 1971.

Origin

The first version of the flag was designed and made by a group of student leaders and activists from the Swadheen Bangla Nucleus on 6 June 1970. The work took place in room 108 of Iqbal Hall (now Sergeant Zahurul Haq Hall) at Dhaka University. The students involved in the design included Kazi Aref Ahmed, ASM Abdur Rab, Shajahan Siraj, Manirul Islam (Marshal Moni), Swapan Kumar Choudhury, Serajul Alam Khan, Quamrul Alam Khan Khasru, Hasanul Haq Inu, and Yousuf Salahuddin Ahmed. The flag was crafted from cloth 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 (now BUET). 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 Central Students' Union (DUCSU). The flag was conceived so as to exclude the star and crescent considered as symbols of West Pakistan (now Pakistan).

Another source states the first flag hoisted at Dhaka University on 2 March 1971 was stitched by Mini Quadir on 1 March 1971 upon requests from her cousin Monirul Haque, the president of Dhaka metropolitan Awami League. Using materials bought from Dhaka Sadarghat. On the next day upon another request by Monirul Haque a white cutout of the East Pakistan map was stitched onto the flag and later coloured golden using afsaan (mehendi) upon reconsideration. The flag was hoisted at Dhaka University.

On 23 March 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman officially hoisted the flag for the first time at his house in 32 Dhanmondi. According to his pre-announced instructions, a general holiday is observed across the country on this day.

In April 1971, the flag was hoisted for the first time in foreign mission, when Deputy High Commissioner Hosen Ali along with other officials declared their alliance with the newly formed Mujibnagar Government.

On 25 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.

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.

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Symbolism

According to CIA World Factbook and official descriptions, the green used in the flag represents the lushness of the green landscape of the country 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.

Design

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 length to width 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).

^a Converted from Pantone color model per connect.pantone.com

^b Converted from RGB based on Inkscape colours value.

Protocol

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 Jatiya Sangsad
The Deputy Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad
The Chief Whip of Bangladesh
The Chief Justice of Bangladesh
All Cabinet Ministers
All Ministers of State
The Leader of the Opposition in Jatiya Sangsad
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 Jatiya Sangsad
The Deputy Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad
The Chief Whip of Bangladesh
The Chief Justice of Bangladesh
All Cabinet Ministers
All Ministers of State
The Leader of the Opposition in Jatiya Sangsad
Heads of Bangladeshi Diplomatic or Consular Missions in foreign countries

Display

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.
Any other day notified by the Government of Bangladesh.

Half-mast

The national flag of Bangladesh is flown at half-mast on the National Martyrs Day on 21 February, and all other days notified by the Government of Bangladesh.

World records

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. 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.
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 Record attempt.
In May 2024, in Memphis, Tennessee, Ashik Chowdhury jumped from 41,795 feet with a flag of Bangladesh. He was awarded the "Greatest Distance Freefall with a Banner or Flag" record by Guinness World Records.
On 16 December 2025, the 54th Victory Day of Bangladesh, 54 paratroopers (signifying the 54th Victory Day), including Ashik Chowdhury, jumped from the attitude of 12,000 feet (3,700 m) with Bangladeshi flags over the National Parade Ground in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka, which was recorded in Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest flag-parachuting event.