Family research · Phase 16 of the world atlas

Flags of Bangladesh

The land of historic Bengal — the delta of the Ganges and Brahmaputra — passes through ancient Buddhist and Hindu dynasties, an Islamic sultanate, two centuries as a province of larger empires, a century and a half of British colonial rule, a hurried 1947 partition, twenty-four years as the geographically separated eastern wing of Pakistan, and a nine-month war of independence, before emerging in December 1971 as the People's Republic of Bangladesh — the youngest sovereign state, and the youngest flag, in this hub.

Bangladesh's own flag is comparatively brief in its history but direct in its symbolism: a red disc, for the sun and for the sacrifice of the liberation struggle, set against a green field for the land itself. It was first raised as an improvised wartime banner in March 1971 and settled into its present, simpler form the following year.

Scope of this page: the territory of present-day Bangladesh (historic East Bengal), c. 3rd century BCE – present, eight political entities. The Mughal era (1576–1757) is covered here only briefly, as one province among many under a single imperial flag; the empire's own fuller lineage is covered on its own page — see the link in that entry. The 1971 Liberation War is stated factually and briefly, limited to well-documented dates and outcomes rather than a full military or human account. Part of a larger atlas — see the linked pages at the bottom.

One delta, eight rulers

The delta of the Ganges and Brahmaputra, traced as one border — present-day Bangladesh has no internal governing split to show across any of its eight eras. Press play, or drag the slider.

Why no internal split. From ancient dynasties through the Mughal province, Company and Crown rule, the Pakistani wing, and independence, every era here was governed as one piece — there is no genuinely separate internal region of today's Bangladesh to carve out honestly.

Real traced border, no internal partition.

green field, red disc slightly toward the hoist — finalized 1972

1972 – present

People’s Republic of Bangladesh

Republic, independentSheikh Mujibur RahmanIslam (state religion, since 1988)

Migration & conquest:Immigration: Rohingya refugees from Myanmar (2017–)Emigration: labor migration to the Gulf & Southeast Asia

Who & why: Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, released from Pakistani custody in January 1972, returns to Dhaka to lead the new state as its first head of government, and a constitution is adopted later that year. In January 1972 the wartime flag is formally simplified: the gold silhouette map inside the red disc is dropped, since it printed and sewed inconsistently and read differently on each side of the cloth, and the disc's position is fixed slightly toward the hoist so that it appears visually centered when the flag flies.

What it represents: green for Bangladesh's fields and forests, and the red disc for the rising sun and for the blood of those lost in the 1971 war for independence — the same design, unaltered since 1972, still flown today.

Paint guide

Proportions10:6 field; red disc radius = 1/5 of the flag's length, centered vertically, its own center set at 2/5 (not 1/2) of the length from the hoist.

LayoutPlain green field, plain red disc, no other emblem.

Bangladesh green#006A4E

Bangladesh red#F42A41

the provisional wartime flag, with a gold silhouette map inside the disc

March – December 1971

Liberation War & provisional Bangladesh

Provisional government, wartimeSheikh Mujibur RahmanNo official state religion (wartime government)

Migration & conquest:Emigration: refugees fleeing to India (1971)

Who & why: after the Awami League wins a decisive majority in Pakistan's December 1970 general election but is denied the transfer of power, the Pakistani military launches a crackdown in East Pakistan in late March 1971. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is arrested and independence is declared on 26 March 1971; a provisional government is organized in exile at Mujibnagar in April. A nine-month war follows, fought in large part by the Mukti Bahini resistance, until India enters the conflict in December 1971 and Pakistani forces surrender at Dhaka on 16 December 1971, the day Bangladesh's independence is secured.

What it represents: a green flag with a red sun disc, its center shifted toward the hoist, bearing a gold silhouette map of Bangladesh inside the disc; students at Dhaka University first raised a version of this design on 2 March 1971, and the provisional government adopted it soon after as the new nation's banner.

Paint guide

ProportionsNo single fixed ratio during the war; shown at 3:2.

LayoutGreen field, red disc shifted toward the hoist, gold silhouette map of Bangladesh centered inside the disc.

Green#006A4E

Red#F42A41

Map, gold#C9A13C

Pakistan's flag, flown over the eastern wing as East Pakistan

1947 – 1971

East Bengal / East Pakistan

Province, union stateMuhammad Ali JinnahIslam (Pakistan state religion, from 1956)

Migration & conquest:Emigration: Hindus to India after Partition (1947–)

Who & why: the August 1947 partition of British India splits Bengal along the Radcliffe Line: West Bengal joins India, and East Bengal joins the new Dominion of Pakistan as its eastern wing, geographically separated from West Pakistan by roughly 1,600 km of Indian territory (renamed East Pakistan in 1955). Tensions build over the decades that follow — the 1952 Bengali Language Movement, sparked by a push to make Urdu Pakistan's sole national language, becomes an early and formative grievance, later commemorated internationally as Mother Language Day. Political and economic marginalization of the Bengali-majority east feeds a growing nationalist movement that culminates in the Awami League's 1970 election mandate.

What it represents: Pakistan's national flag, adopted in 1947 — a green field for the Muslim majority with a white hoist stripe for religious minorities, and a white crescent and star — flown across both wings of the state, including East Pakistan.

Paint guide

Proportions2:3; hoist stripe = 1/4 of the flag's length.

LayoutWhite vertical stripe at hoist; dark green field with a white crescent and five-pointed star, centered.

Pakistan green#01411C

White#F4EFE1

the British Indian Empire's Union flag with the Star of India, schematic

1858 – 1947

Bengal under the British Raj

Colony, crown ruleQueen VictoriaOfficial religious neutrality

Migration & conquest:Emigration: indentured labor to British colonies

Ruling house:Nawabs of Bengal

Who & why: following the 1857 rebellion, the British Crown formally assumes direct control of Company territories under the Government of India Act 1858, ending Company rule and beginning the Raj. Bengal is governed as its own presidency and, later, province within British India; Lord Curzon's controversial 1905 partition of Bengal along religious lines is reversed in 1911 after mass protest, foreshadowing the deeper partition to come in 1947. British rule over Bengal ends with Indian independence and the 1947 partition.

What it represents: the Union flag of the United Kingdom, flown with the Star of India badge (used on Raj-era ensigns and viceregal flags) marking British India as a crown possession; shown here as a schematic composite rather than any single specific ensign.

Paint guide

ProportionsVaried by ensign; shown at 3:2.

LayoutUnion Jack canton on a dark blue field, with the Star of India badge (gold star, red center) in the fly.

Field blue#1A2B57

Red#A4302A

Star, gold#C9A13C

the East India Company's striped ensign with the Union canton, schematic

1757 – 1858

Bengal under East India Company rule

Colony, company ruleRobert CliveNo official state religion (Company neutrality)

Migration & conquest:Conquered by: East India Company (1757)

Ruling house:Nawabs of Bengal

Who & why: the British East India Company defeats Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah at the Battle of Plassey on 23 June 1757, gaining effective control of Bengal, and formalizes its authority in 1765 when the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II grants it the diwani (the right to collect revenue) over Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa. The Company rules Bengal as a commercial and administrative enterprise, nominally under Mughal suzerainty at first, for a century, until the 1857 rebellion ends Company governance.

What it represents: the Company's own red-and-white striped ensign, carrying the British Union flag in the canton, used on its ships and establishments across its Indian territories, including Bengal, through this period.

Paint guide

ProportionsNo fixed civil ratio recorded; shown at 3:2.

LayoutRed and white horizontal stripes (commonly 9 or 13), Union canton in the upper hoist.

Red#A4302A

White#F4EFE1

Canton blue#1E2F6E

a Mughal-style green field with a gold sun emblem, schematic

1576 – 1757

Bengal under the Mughal Empire

Empire, provinceAkbarIslam (Mughal state religion)

Migration & conquest:Conquered by: Mughal Empire (1576)

Ruling house:Nawabs of Bengal

Who & why: the Mughal Emperor Akbar completes the conquest of the Bengal Sultanate in 1576, absorbing Bengal as one of the empire's wealthiest provinces (a subah), administered from Dhaka for much of this period. Bengal remains under Mughal governance — increasingly autonomous under its own nawabs in the 1700s as central Mughal authority weakens — until the Company's victory at Plassey in 1757. For the empire's own fuller lineage and flags, see the dedicated Mughal Empire page in this atlas.

What it represents: a green field bearing a gold sun motif, representative of the Mughal imperial alam (banner) tradition used across the empire's provinces, shown here schematically for Bengal's own span under that empire rather than as a province-specific record.

Paint guide

ProportionsNo fixed ratio recorded; shown at 3:2.

LayoutGreen field, gold sun/star emblem, centered.

Green#0B6623

Gold#C9A13C

a plain maroon field with a crescent, informed reconstruction

1204 – 1576

Bengal Sultanate

SultanateMuhammad bin Bakhtiyar KhaljiIslam (Sunni)

Migration & conquest:Conquered by: Delhi Sultanate (Bakhtiyar Khalji, 1204)

Who & why: Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji's 1204 conquest brings Bengal under Delhi Sultanate governors; the region breaks away to found its own independent Bengal Sultanate in 1352, which endures — through several ruling dynasties, including the Ilyas Shahi and Hussain Shahi lines — as one of the era's major regional Islamic powers, known for trade, textiles, and architecture, until Mughal conquest in 1576.

What it represents: no single specific Bengal Sultanate flag survives in the documentary record; the plain dark field with a crescent shown here follows the general conventions of regional Islamic sultanate banners of the period and should be read as an informed reconstruction, not a documented Bengal-specific design.

Paint guide

ProportionsN/A — no attested flag; shown at 3:2.

LayoutPlain dark field, crescent devices common to regional sultanate banners.

Maroon#6B2B28

White#F4EFE1

placeholder maroon field — ancient and early medieval era, no flag survives

c. 3rd century BCE – 1204 CE

Historic Bengal (ancient & medieval)

Kingdom / empire, regionalNo single ruler documentedBuddhism / Hinduism (varied by dynasty)

Ruling house:Pala Empire

Who & why: the Bengal delta passes through the Maurya and Gupta empires, local dynasties such as Shashanka's early 7th-century kingdom, and, from the 8th century, the Buddhist Pala Empire, one of the region's most powerful and long-lived states. The Hindu Sena dynasty supplants the Palas in the 12th century, ruling until the 1204 conquest that opens the Islamic era in Bengal.

What it represents: no securely documented flag or standardized banner survives from any of these dynasties; ancient and early medieval South Asian states are attested through inscriptions, coinage, and royal seals rather than vexillological records. Shown here honestly blank rather than invented.

Paint guide

ProportionsN/A — no attested flag.

Reading the tags

Kingdom / empire, regional — sovereign under a local or regional crown

Sultanate — independent Islamic regional state

Empire, province — a province of a larger multi-region empire

Colony, company rule — governed by a chartered trading company

Colony, crown rule — governed directly by a foreign crown

Province, union state — a constituent wing/province of a larger sovereign state

Provisional government, wartime — a government formed during an active war of independence

Republic, independent — sovereign under its own elected government

Leader — the named ruler most associated with the era's start

State religion — the official/established faith, not the population's

Find the records

Family history research for Bangladesh lives in a different project, Record Atlas, which maps which archive actually holds the paper for a given place and era.

Search Record Atlas for Bangladesh →

More of the atlas

This page is one lineage in a larger set. See the region-wide map and the other countries here:

Flags Atlas indexSearch every country and hub South Asia hubShared subcontinental history Mughal EmpireThe empire that once held Bengal