Language & identity

Reading the national flag

A red disc on a green field gives Bangladesh's flag a simple outline, but its proportions and history reveal a carefully shaped national symbol.

Bangladesh's national flag places a red disc on a green rectangular field. The green is associated with the country's landscape, while the red recalls the sacrifice of the independence struggle and is also read as a rising sun. The design carries these meanings without words or an elaborate emblem. The disc is not exactly in the geometric centre. It sits slightly toward the hoist, the edge fixed to the pole, helping the flag appear balanced when it flies. Official proportions give the rectangle a length-to-width ratio of ten to six and the disc a radius equal to one fifth of the flag's length. A flag used during the 1971 Liberation War included a map of Bangladesh within the red disc. The national design adopted in 1972 removed the map, making the symbol easier to reproduce consistently on both sides. Quamrul Hassan is associated with this revised design. The change preserved the recognisable colours while creating a clear form suited to everything from a public building to a small hand-held flag.