The Red & Green (Bengali: লাল সবুজ, romanized: Lal Shôbuz) | |
Use | National flag |
---|---|
Proportion | 3:5 |
Adopted | 17 January 1972 |
Design | A red disc slightly off center to hoist (left as depicted) defacing a dark green banner. |
Designed by | Quamrul Hassan |
Use | Civil ensign |
Design | A Red Ensign with the national flag of Bangladesh in the canton. |
Use | Naval ensign |
Design | A White Ensign with the national flag of Bangladesh in the canton. |
Use | Air force ensign |
Proportion | 1:2 |
Design | 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. |
Use | Former flag |
Adopted | 2 March 1971 |
Design | A red disc with a golden outline of Bangladesh on a green banner. |
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 centered when the flag is flying. While there are many interpretations, the green on the flag represents the lushness of landscape and the red circle symbolizes 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. [2] 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.[ citation needed ] The flag was made from clothes donated by Bazlur Rahman Lasker, the owner of Apollo Tailors, Dhaka New Market. [3]
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). [4] [5] Later the map was painted in the red circle by Shib Narayan Das. [6] 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) [7] 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 the captain of the Shadhin Bangla Football Team became the first person to hoist the Bangladesh flag on foreign land, before a match in Nadia district of West Bengal. [8]
On 13 January 1972 the flag was modified. The map from the center was removed, and the red disk moved towards the hoist so as to be visually centered when the flag is in flight on a mast.
According to CIA World Fact Book [2] [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. [11] 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.
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According to Bangladeshi government specifications, [13] following is the specification of the national 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 center. | |
1352–1576 | Flag of the Bengal Sultanate | A white flag with two red strips at the top and bottom. | |
1576–1858 | Flag of the Mughal Empire | Mughal Empire Alam flag that was primarily moss green. [21] [ failed verification ] | |
–1757 | Flag of the Bengal Subah | 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 | Flag of the Viceroy of India | 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 | Flag of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal Presidency, later Bengal Province) | A Blue Ensign with the Union Flag at the canton, and the Bengal Presidency Emblem displayed in the fly. | |
1947–1971 | Flag of Pakistan | 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. | A flag with a green background, a red disk and a yellow map of the country in the middle [2] | |
1972–present | National flag of Bangladesh | A red disc on top of a green field, offset slightly toward the hoist. [10] |
Dhaka, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh. It is the ninth-largest and seventh-most densely populated city in the world. Dhaka is a megacity, and has a population of 10.2 million residents as of 2022, and a population of over 22.4 million residents in Dhaka Metropolitan Area. It is widely considered to be the most densely populated built-up urban area in the world. Dhaka is the most important cultural, economic, and scientific hub of Eastern South Asia, as well as a major Muslim-majority city. Dhaka ranks third in South Asia and 39th in the world in terms of GDP. Lying on the Ganges Delta, it is bounded by the Buriganga, Turag, Dhaleshwari and Shitalakshya rivers. Dhaka is also the largest Bengali-speaking city in the world.
"Amar Sonar Bangla" is the national anthem of Bangladesh. An ode to Mother Bengal, the lyrics were written by Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore in 1905, while the melody of the hymn was adopted from the Baul singer Gagan Harkara's song "Ami Kothay Pabo Tare" set to Dadra Tala. The modern instrumental rendition was arranged by Bangladeshi musician Samar Das.
The national flag of Pakistan, also known as the Flag of the Star and Crescent, is made up of a green field with a stylized tilted white crescent moon and five-pointed star at its centre, and a vertical white stripe at its hoist-end. Though the specific shade of green on the flag is mandated only as 'dark green', its official and most consistent representation is in Pakistan green, which is shaded distinctively darker. It was adopted by the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on 11 August 1947, and it became the official flag of the Dominion of Pakistan on 14 August 1947, following independence from the British Empire. The flag was subsequently retained as that of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in 1956, and remains in use as the national flag to this day.
The Bangladesh Awami League, often simply called the Awami League or AL, is one of the major political parties in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, Awami League successfully lead Bangladesh to the independence. One of the two most dominant parties in the country, along with its archrival Bangladesh Nationalist Party, it has been the ruling party since 2009, and has since been described as authoritarian.
Victory Day is a national holiday in Bangladesh celebrated on 16 December to commemorate the defeat of the Pakistan Armed Forces in the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 and the Independence of Bangladesh. It commemorates the Pakistani Instrument of Surrender, wherein the commander of the Pakistani Forces, General AAK Niazi, surrendered to the Mukti Bahini and their Indian allies, ending the nine-month Bangladesh Liberation War and 1971 Bangladesh genocide and marking the official secession of East Pakistan to become the new state of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh Television, commonly known by its acronym BTV, is the state-owned television network of Bangladesh. The network was originally established as the East Pakistan branch of PTV in 1964. It is the oldest Bengali-language television network in the world, and is the sister to the radio broadcaster Bangladesh Betar, which, along with BTV, are both owned and operated by the government.
Syed Shamsul Haq was a Bangladeshi writer. He was awarded Bangla Academy Literary Award in 1966, Ekushey Padak in 1984 and Independence Day Award in 2000 by the Government of Bangladesh for his contributions to Bangla literature. His notable works include "Payer Awaj Pawa Jai", "Nishiddho Loban", "Khelaram Khele Ja", "Neel Dongshon" and "Mrigoya".
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1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1971st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 971st year of the 2nd millennium, the 71st year of the 20th century, and the 2nd year of the 1970s decade.
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The 7th March Speech of Bangabandhu, or the 7/3 Speech, was a public speech given by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Founding Father of Bangladesh on 7 March 1971 at the Ramna Race Course in Dhaka to a gathering of over two million (2,000,000) people. It was delivered during a period of escalating tensions between East Pakistan and the powerful political and military establishment of West Pakistan. In the speech, Bangabandhu informally declared the independence of Bangladesh, proclaiming: "The struggle this time, is a struggle for our liberty. The struggle this time, is a struggle for our independence." He announced a civil disobedience movement in the province, calling for "every house to turn into a fortress".
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