---
title: "Flag of Bangladesh: colours and meaning"
description: "What every colour and symbol on the Bangladesh flag stands for, its official 3:5 ratio, and the year the current design was adopted."
url: https://atoneplace.net/flag/bangladesh/
site: "At One Place"
---

# The flag of Bangladesh

**The flag of Bangladesh: A dark green field with a red disc set slightly toward the hoist of centre.**

Ratio 3:5 · current design adopted 1972

*[Flag drawn on the page: Bangladesh]*

The disc is deliberately off-centre, set at nine-twentieths of the flag's length from the hoist, so that it appears centred when the flag is flying and the fly end is further from the eye. That is the same optical correction Japan used before 1999 and abandoned. The original 1971 flag had a yellow map of the country inside the red disc; it was removed in January 1972 because it was impossible to draw correctly on the reverse. The design is credited to a group of student activists at Dhaka University in June 1970.

## Flags it gets confused with

*[Flag drawn on the page: Bangladesh, Japan, Palau]*

*Drawn at each flag’s own official ratio, which is itself the difference in some of these pairs.*

| Flag | How to tell them apart |
| --- | --- |
| Japan | Japan's field is white and its disc is exactly centred. |
| Palau | Palau's field is light blue and its off-centre disc is yellow. |

## What the colours mean

*Flag laws usually specify a Pantone chip, a CMYK mix or just a colour name. Converting any of those to sRGB is lossy, which is why published hex values disagree.*

- **Green** (#006A4E) — The greenery of the land, and its vitality
- **Red** (#F42A41) — The sun rising over Bengal, and the blood of those who died in 1971

- **Ratio:** 3:5
- **Current design adopted:** 1972
- **Colours:** green, red

## Common questions

### What does the flag of Bangladesh look like?

A dark green field with a red disc set slightly toward the hoist of centre.

### What do the colours of the Bangladesh flag mean?

Green: the greenery of the land, and its vitality. Red: the sun rising over Bengal, and the blood of those who died in 1971.

### How do you tell the Bangladesh flag from the Japan one?

Japan's field is white and its disc is exactly centred.

### When was the Bangladesh flag adopted?

The current design dates from 1972, and its official ratio is 3:5.

## Related pages

- [Bangladesh](https://atoneplace.net/country/bangladesh/)
- [The flag of Japan](https://atoneplace.net/flag/japan/)
- [The flag of Palau](https://atoneplace.net/flag/palau/)
- [Every flag with green in it](https://atoneplace.net/flag/colour/green/)
- [The flag of India](https://atoneplace.net/flag/india/)
- [The flag of Brazil](https://atoneplace.net/flag/brazil/)
- [The flag of Italy](https://atoneplace.net/flag/italy/)
- [The flag of Mexico](https://atoneplace.net/flag/mexico/)
- [The flag of Ireland](https://atoneplace.net/flag/ireland/)
- [The flag of South Africa](https://atoneplace.net/flag/south-africa/)
- [The flag of Jamaica](https://atoneplace.net/flag/jamaica/)
- [The flag of Pakistan](https://atoneplace.net/flag/pakistan/)

## Sources

- The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency (https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/) [Public domain (US Government)]