The

national flag A national flag is a flag that represents and national symbol, symbolizes a given nation. It is Fly (flag), flown by the government of that nation, but can also be flown by its citizens. A national flag is typically designed with specific meanin ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, also known as the Flag of the Star and Crescent (), is made up of a green field with a stylized tilted white descending 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 The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan was the supreme federal legislature of the Dominion of Pakistan. It was established in August 1947 with the primary tasks of framing Constitution of Pakistan of 1956, a constitution; and serving as an interim ...

on 11 August 1947, and it became the official flag of the

Dominion of Pakistan The Dominion of Pakistan, officially Pakistan, was an independent federal dominion in the British Commonwealth of Nations, which existed from 14 August 1947 to Pakistan Day, 23 March 1956. It was created by the passing of the Indian Independence ...

on 14 August 1947, following independence from the British Empire. The flag was subsequently retained as that of the

Islamic Republic of Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

and remains in use as the national flag to this day. Most notably, the flag is referred to in the third verse of Pakistan's national anthem, and is widely flown on several important days of the year, including

Republic Day Republic Day is the name of a holiday in several countries to commemorate the day when they became republics. List January 1 January in Slovak Republic The day of creation of Slovak republic. A national holiday since 1993. Officially calle ...

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...

and

Defence Day Defence Day ( ALA-LC: ) is celebrated in Pakistan as a national day to commemorate the sacrifices made by Pakistani soldiers in defending its borders.Taha SiddiquiDear Pakistanis, this Defence Day, please stop celebrating hate Al Jazeera, 6 ...

. It is also hoisted every morning at schools, offices and government buildings to the playing of the national anthem and lowered again before sunset. A very elaborate flag-raising and lowering ceremony is carried out every evening by the

Pakistan Rangers The Pakistan Rangers () are a pair of paramilitary federal law enforcement corps' in Pakistan. The two corps are the Punjab Rangers (operating in Punjab province with headquarters in Lahore) and the Sindh Rangers (operating in Sindh province w ...

and their

Indian Border Security Force The Border Security Force (BSF) is a Central Armed Police Forces, central armed police force in India under the Ministry of Home Affairs (India), Ministry of Home Affairs. It is responsible for guarding Border guard, India’s borders with Indi ...

counterparts at the

Wagah Wagah (; ; ), also spelled Wagha or Wahga, is a village and union council (UC 181) located in the Wahga Zone near Lahore City District, Pakistan. The town is famous for the Wagah border ceremony and also serves as a goods transit terminal a ...

–

Attari Attari, also spelled Atari, is a village of Amritsar district in the Punjab state of India, 3 km from the Indo-Pakistani border at Wagah. It is situated 25 km west of the Sikh holy city of Amritsar, and is the last Indian station o ...

border crossing between

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

, which is regularly attended by hundreds of spectators. The

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan () (abbreviated as GoP), constitutionally known as the Federal Government, commonly known as the Centre, is the national authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a federal republic located in South Asia, con ...

has formalized rules and regulations related to the flying of the national flag; it is to be displayed all day at full-mast on 23 March annually to commemorate the adoption of the

Lahore Resolution The Lahore Resolution, later called the Pakistan Resolution in Pakistan, was a formal political statement adopted by the All-India Muslim League on the occasion of its three-day general session in Lahore, Punjab, from 22 to 24 March 1940, call ...

in 1940 and the declaration of Pakistan as an independent

Islamic republic The term Islamic republic has been used in different ways. Some Muslim religious leaders have used it as the name for a form of Islamic theocratic government enforcing sharia, or laws compatible with sharia. The term has also been used for a s ...

with a

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

in 1956, both of which occurred on the same day. The same regulations also apply on 14 August annually, in celebration of Pakistan's day of independence; when the country was carved out from erstwhile

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

as the homeland and

nation-state A nation state, or nation-state, is a political entity in which the state (a centralized political organization ruling over a population within a territory) and the nation (a community based on a common identity) are (broadly or ideally) con ...

for the

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

History

Pakistan National Movement Proposed Flag of Pakistan

In 1942, the Pakistan National Movement published a pamphlet, "The Millat of Islam and the menace of 'Indianism'", by the founder of the

Pakistan Movement The Pakistan Movement was a religiopolitical and social movement that emerged in the early 20th century as part of a campaign that advocated the creation of an Islamic state in parts of what was then British Raj. It was rooted in the two-nation the ...

Choudhry Rahmat Ali Choudhry Rahmat Ali (16 November 1897 – 3 February 1951) was a Muslim nationalist activist who is credited with coining the name "Pakistan" for a separate Muslim homeland in British India and is sometimes regarded as the originator of the Pa ...

, depicting on its cover a flag of a proposed Pakistan with a thin white crescent and five white stars on a green field. A graphic illustration of Ali's flag in a critical work from 1946 more clearly portrays the stars in a pentagonal arrangement. Each star apparently represented a constituent nation of the proposed state:

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

, Afghania (NWF),

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

, and

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region o ...

. 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. The design eventually adopted as the Flag of Pakistan was based on the flag of the

Muslim League Muslim League may refer to: Political parties British India *All-India Muslim League, led the demand for the partition of India resulting in the creation of Pakistan ** Punjab Muslim League, a branch of the organization above **Unionist Muslim L ...

. In 1937, the

began using a solid green banner charged with white descending crescent and star. In the early 1920s, during the era of the

Khilafat Movement The Khilafat movement (1919–22) was a political campaign launched by Indian Muslims in British India over British policy against Turkey and the planned dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire after World War I by Allied forces. Leaders particip ...

, Muslims had begun using a green banner with crescent and star, but as a religious rather than national symbol. By the 1930s, Muslims in India had become leery of the acceptance of the tricolor flag of the Congress Party as the national flag of India, in significant part because the discourses and rituals of hoisting the flag invoked explicitly Hindu religious themes. In 1940,

Muhammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad Ali Jinnah (born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 187611 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the inception of Pa ...

, leader of the

and future founder of the state of Pakistan, declared the League's flag the 'national flag of Muslim India'. By 1944,

was publicly declaring that they intended it to be the flag of Pakistan. This would become the flag of Pakistan, albeit charged with a white heraldic side or flank at the hoist. The resulting flag bears a striking resemblance to the various iterations of the Saudi flag from 1744 to 1937 which featured a white heraldic side or flank at the hoist and a green field charged with white calligraphic text (the ''

Shahada The ''Shahada'' ( ; , 'the testimony'), also transliterated as ''Shahadah'', is an Islamic oath and creed, and one of the Five Pillars of Islam and part of the Adhan. It reads: "I bear witness that there is no Ilah, god but God in Islam, God ...

''). In 1947, the

Viceroy of India The governor-general of India (1833 to 1950, from 1858 to 1947 the viceroy and governor-general of India, commonly shortened to viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in their capacity as the Emperor of ...

Louis Mountbatten Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (born Prince Louis of Battenberg; 25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979), commonly known as Lord Mountbatten, was a British statesman, Royal Navy of ...

, proposed a national flag for the state of Pakistan which comprised the flag of the

All-India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party founded in 1906 in Dhaka, British India with the goal of securing Muslims, Muslim interests in South Asia. Although initially espousing a united India with interfaith unity, the Muslim L ...

albeit with a

Union Jack The Union Jack or Union Flag is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags. It is sometimes a ...

in the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative divisions * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and entertainment * Canton (band), an It ...

. This proposal was rejected by

on the grounds that a flag featuring both Saint George's Christian Cross alongside an Islamic star and crescent would not be accepted by the

Pakistani people Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

. A team led by Syed Amir-uddin Kedwaii created the design that would ultimately be approved as the national flag. 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. Upon independence it became the flag of, first, the

and then from 23 March 1956 that of the

. The design remains unchanged since its initial adoption.

Symbolism

The Islamic green of the flag represents the Muslim-majority populace of Pakistan while the white stripe on the hoist-end represents its various

religious minorities A minority religion is a religion held by a minority of the population of state or which is otherwise politically marginalized. Minority religions may be subject to stigma or discrimination. An example of a stigma is using the term cult with its ...

i.e. Non-Muslims, such as

Hindus Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

Sikhs Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Sikh'' ...

, Zoroastrians and

others Others or The Others may refer to: Fictional characters * Others (''A Song of Ice and Fire''), supernatural creatures in the fictional world of George R. R. Martin's fantasy series ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' * Others (''Lost''), mysterious inh ...

. The combined

star and crescent The conjoined representation of a star and a crescent is used in various historical contexts, including as a prominent symbol of the Ottoman Empire, and in contemporary times, as a national symbol by some countries, and by some Muslims as a sym ...

serve as a symbol of

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

, with the crescent representing progress and the five-pointed star representing light and knowledge. The flag symbolizes Pakistan's commitment to both Islam as well as the rights of religious minorities. The Pakistan Flag is based on the original flag of the

, which itself drew inspiration from the

flag A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and fla ...

of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

Design

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 and width as 3:2 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 is one quarter the length of the flag nearest the mast, so the green portion occupies the remaining three quarters 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 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 in Pakistan 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. Flig

Dimensions

The Interior Ministry of Pakistan provides dimensions for flags in different circumstances: * For ceremonial occasions: 24′ × 16′, 21′ × 14′, 18′ × 12′, 11′ × ′ or 9′ × ′. * For use over buildings: 6′ × 4′ or 3′ × 2′. * For cars: 24″ × 16″. * For tables: ″ × ″.

National flag protocols

* No other flag must fly higher (except the United Nations flag at United Nations buildings). * 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).

Flag flying days

Use by public officials

The use of the national flag is regulated by the

Flag Rules, which were introduced in 2002 by Prime Minister

Zafarullah Khan Jamali Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali (1 January 1944 – 2 December 2020) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 13th prime minister of Pakistan from 2002 to 2004. He was the first and only elected prime minister from Balochistan, Pakistan. Born int ...

. 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. The national flag is flown on the official residences and vehicles (cars, boats, planes) of the following public officials:

Milestones

* 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 a

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

. *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 in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

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 by

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

. * 2012 – On 22 October, 24,200 people gathered in a stadium in

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 by

. * 2004 – In August, a 340 × 510 ft (173,400 square foot) flag of Pakistan was unfurled at the

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football ...

Karachi, setting the world record for the largest flag. * 1947 – On the night of 14 August 1947, a group of

n Boy Scouts were in France when the news reached them that their country had become independent. Mohammad Iqbal Qureshi was one of the

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

boy scouts who with the help of his friends turned a green turban into a Pakistani flag and unfurled it. 15 August 1947 was the first time when the Pakistani flag flew on foreign soil.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Flag Of Pakistan Pakistan

National symbols of Pakistan

Green and white flags