Flag of Bangladesh

What the flag of Bangladesh looks like

The national flag of Bangladesh is a dark green field with a red circle. The flag's length-to-width ratio is 10:6, which is the same as 5:3. The radius of the red disc is one-fifth of the length of the flag, so its diameter is two-fifths of the length. The disc is not in the exact center. Its center is placed slightly closer to the hoist, the side nearest the pole.

The offset is deliberate. When a flag flies in the wind, the fly end folds and moves, and the disc looks as if it is in the middle. If the circle were placed in the true center, it would look as if it had been pushed toward the pole. This is the answer to the common question of why the Bangladesh flag is off-centered.

The shade of green is dark and deep, not a bright or light green. It is sometimes described as bottle green, and the red is a strong, warm red. The flag is simple, and it appears on the national emoji, the Bangladesh flag emoji, in the same two colors. A ready-to-use file is on the Bangladesh flag download page.

Bangladesh flag meaning and symbolism

The flag has two colors, and each has a simple, widely taught meaning:

• Dark green stands for the lush landscape of Bangladesh, its fields and forests, and also for the youth and vitality of the country.
• Red stands for the sun rising over Bengal and for the blood of those who died in the struggle for independence in 1971.

A circle on a plain field is a very old way of representing the sun, and in Bangladesh the sun also stands for the start of a new nation. The red-and-green combination is so closely linked to the country that people often call the flag "the red and green" (in Bengali, lal-sobuj).

There are several interpretations. The most widely accepted one is the reading above, and an alternative description says the green stands for youth and progress and the red disc for revolution and renaissance.

History of the Bangladesh flag

Before 1971, Bangladesh was East Pakistan, and the national flag was the green-and-white flag of Pakistan. As the independence movement grew in 1970 and 1971, student leaders at Dhaka University designed a new flag. It was first raised on 2 March 1971 at the university. That version was green with a red disc, and inside the disc was a yellow map of the country.

The war of independence began in March 1971 and ended on 16 December 1971, when Pakistan's forces surrendered. The new flag was flown during the war, and in April 1971 it was hoisted at the first foreign mission to side with the new Mujibnagar government.

After independence, the design was reviewed. The map was removed from the red disc, reportedly because it was hard to render correctly on both sides of a cloth flag, and the red disc was moved toward the hoist. The flag was modified on 13 January 1972 and officially adopted on 17 January 1972. Since then, the flag has not changed.

Bangladesh and Japan flags: what is the difference?

People often ask why the flags of Bangladesh and Japan look alike, since both have a red disc. The difference is the background and the placement of the disc. Japan's flag has a white field and a red circle exactly in the center, with proportions of 2:3. Bangladesh's has a dark green field, a disc moved toward the hoist and proportions of 3:5. The designs developed independently and have different meanings: Japan's disc stands for the sun in the name "land of the rising sun", while in Bangladesh it is the sun and the sacrifice of 1971.