Thenational flag ofPakistan, also known as theFlag of the Star and Crescent (Parcam-e-Sitāra-o-Hilāl;پرچمِ ستارہ و ہلال), is made up of a green field with a stylized tilted white descendingcrescent 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',[1] its official and most consistent representation is inPakistan green, which is shaded distinctively darker. It was adopted by theConstituent Assembly of Pakistan on 11 August 1947, and it became the official flag of theDominion of Pakistan on 14 August 1947, followingindependence from the British Empire.[2][3][4] The flag was subsequently retained as that of theIslamic Republic of Pakistan in1956 and remains in use as the national flag to this day.
In 1942, thePakistan National Movement published a pamphlet, "The Millat of Islam and the menace of 'Indianism'", by the founder of thePakistan Movement,Choudhry Rahmat Ali, depicting on its cover a flag of a proposed Pakistan with a thin white crescent and five white stars on a green field.[5] A graphic illustration of Ali's flag in a critical work from 1946 more clearly portrays the stars in a pentagonal arrangement.[6] Each star apparently represented a constituent nation of the proposed state:Punjab,Afghania (NWF),Kashmir,Sindh, andBalochistan.[5] Ali also apparently designed a flag for an envisioned association of independent Muslim states distributed across South Asia, a 'Pak Commonwealth of Nations'. This flag featured a smaller crescent and ten stars.[7]
The design eventually adopted as the Flag of Pakistan was based on the flag of theMuslim League. In 1937, theMuslim League began using a solid green banner charged with white descending crescent and star. In the early 1920s, during the era of theKhilafat Movement, Muslims had begun using a green banner with crescent and star, but as a religious rather than national symbol.[8] By the 1930s, Muslims in India had become leery of the acceptance of the tricolor flag of theCongress Party as the national flag of India, in significant part because the discourses and rituals of hoisting the flag invoked explicitly Hindu religious themes.[9] In 1940,Muhammad Ali Jinnah, leader of theMuslim League and future founder of the state of Pakistan, declared theLeague's flag the 'national flag of Muslim India'.[10] By 1944,Muhammad Ali Jinnah was publicly declaring that they intended it to be the flag of Pakistan.[11] This would become the flag of Pakistan, albeit charged with a whiteheraldic side or flank at the hoist. The resulting flag bears a striking resemblance to the various iterations of theSaudi flag from 1744 to 1937 which featured a whiteheraldic side or flank at the hoist and a green field charged with white calligraphic text (theShahada).
A team led bySyed Amir-uddin Kedwaii created the design that would ultimately be approved as the national flag.[14] It was officially adopted by the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on 11 August 1947, a few days before Pakistan gained its independence from British rule.[15] Upon independence it became the flag of, first, theDominion of Pakistan and then from23 March 1956 that of theIslamic Republic of Pakistan. The design remains unchanged since its initial adoption.
Specifications (technical specifications illustrated in the text on the side)
Construction sheet variant
The official design of the national flag was adopted by the Constituent Assembly together with a definition of the features and proportions.
According to the specifications, it is a dark green rectangular flag in the proportion of length [A] and width [B] as3:2 with a white vertical bar at the mast, the green portion bearing a white crescent in the centre and a five-pointed white heraldic star. The width of the white portion [C] is one quarter the length of the flag [A], nearest the mast, so the green portion occupies the remaining three quarters [D].Draw a diagonal L3 from the top right-hand corner to the bottom left corner of the green portion. On this diagonal establish two points P1 and P2. P1 is positioned at the centre of the green portion and P2 at the intersection of the diagonal L3 and an arc C4 created from the top right-hand corner equal to 13/20 the height of the flag [E]. With the centre at point P1 and a radius 3/10 the height of the flag describe the first circle C1 and with the centre at point P2 and a radius 11/40 the height of the flag describe a second circle C2. The enclosures made by these two circles form the crescent. The dimensions of the five-pointed white heraldic star are determined by drawing a circle C3 with a radius 1/10 the height of the flag positioned between P2 and P3 on the diagonal L3. The circle surrounds the five points of the heraldic star and the star lies with one point on the diagonal L3 at point P3 where circle C1 intersects the diagonal L3.The flag is coloured inPakistan green having standard RGB values (red = 0, green = 64, blue = 26) or with hex triplet #00401A or the HSV value = (h = 144, s = 100, v = 25). The left strip, the star and the crescent are painted in white. The flag is supported from left white side.
When displayed or flown alongside other national flags, the National Flag must be displayed or flown at the same height as the other national flags, never lower.
When displayed alongside provincial, military or corporate flags, the National Flag must be higher.
When tied to a mast, it must be tied only at the left (at the beginning of the white bar) and left to fly freely without any obstruction.
Must not touch the ground, shoes or feet or anything unclean.
Must never be flown in darkness.
Must be raised at dawn and lowered at dusk (except on the Parliament of Pakistan, which is the only official building on which the flag is never lowered). When flown over the Parliament of Pakistan at night, it must always remain alit with artificial light
Must not be marked with anything (including words or pictures).
When raising: (i) must be saluted to by all uniformed personnel, (ii) others must stand in attention.
Must be raised or lowered ceremoniously.
Must never be displayed vertically.
When displayed horizontally, the white strip must always be at the left, with green field on the right.
Must not fly or be displayed upside down or with the crescent and star facing left.
Must not be displayed anywhere where it is likely to get dirty.
Must not be set on fire or trampled upon.
Must not be buried or lowered into a grave (when burying a flag-bearing casket, the National Flag must be detached from the casket and held above the grave as the casket is lowered or removed from the casket before burial).[citation needed]
The use of the national flag is regulated by thePakistan Flag Rules, which were introduced in 2002 by Prime MinisterZafarullah Khan Jamali. The rules are not available online but there have been instances of misuse such as officials using flags on their vehicles when they are not entitled to do so.[19][20] The national flag is flown on the official residences and vehicles (cars, boats, planes) of the following public officials:[18]
2019 – The largest balloon mosaic (flag) is 180.172 m2 (1939 ft2 37 in2) achieved by Pakistan Hindu Council (Pakistan) in Islamabad, Pakistan, on 5 August 2019. It is aGuinness World Record.[22]
2017 – On 14 August, People of Balochistan hoisted a 2-mile-long flag of Pakistan in Quetta.
2014 – On 15 February, 29,040 people gathered in a stadium inLahore to form the flag of Pakistan and set a new world record for forming the world's largest national flag comprising humans, which was certified byGuinness World Records.[23][24]
2012 – On 22 October, 24,200 people gathered in a stadium inLahore to form the flag of Pakistan and set a new world record for forming the world's largest national flag comprising humans, which was certified byGuinness World Records.[25]
2004 – In August, a 340 × 510 ft (173,400 square foot) flag of Pakistan was unfurled at theNational Stadium Karachi, setting the world record for the largest flag.[26][27]
1947 – On the night of 14 August 1947, a group of Indian Boy Scouts were in France when the news reached them that their country had become independent. Mohammad Iqbal Qureshi was one of theMuslim boy scouts who with the help of his friends turned a greenturban into a Pakistani flag and unfurled it. 15 August 1947 was the first time when the Pakistani flag flew on foreign soil.[28]
^"Pakistan flag". Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of Pakistan. Archived fromthe original on 5 March 2009. Retrieved11 December 2007.
^"Basic Facts". Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of Pakistan. Archived fromthe original on 10 April 2012. Retrieved11 December 2007.
^ab"Pakistan Flag". Ministry of the Interior, Government of Pakistan. Archived fromthe original on 14 November 2007. Retrieved11 December 2007.
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