Get well soon, dear flag

There is a crescent on the Pakistani flag. It is representing the waning phase of the moon. The ground is a very dark green. There is also a five point star. The star is also the only lucky symbol on our flag.

Of all the things we have molested, bent, distorted and twisted since our day of independence one 14th of August in 1947, the white crescent on our flag, to me, appears to be the most frequent target. It is closely seconded, arguably, by the shade of colour green. The width of the white band on the left is a trailing third. Star is a child's play compared to all that.

I am not playing a self-righteous custodian of national pride here, by the way. Do whatever to the flag you may. Distortion seems to be our forte anyway. It was supposed to be an azad country, remember!

I once wrote an article decrying the lack of discipline we enjoy as a nation, to which a reader cockily replied that ‘following the constitution’ was a better demonstration of discipline than observing discipline in our daily life. The article was, of course, supposedly humour. But the replies to it clearly indicated that we are fast becoming a nation of ‘strong opinions’ for the sake of having opinions, for our own purposes. Current blog included, of course.

The point of the above rant is, it is good be individualistic. It is good to have the freedom to do anything you may wish to. It is also good to have the prerogative to practice one’s own sense of design and proportion. It is also heartening to note the amount of tolerance we have for each other’s renditions of the silly little Crescent on the flag and the ridiculously hard-to-get green!

But observe how quickly we shed this sense of individual freedom as 14th of August departs, and we again embark on the mission to rid ourselves of the undesirables from this Land of the Pure.

Happy birthday, dear flag. And get well soon.

So, in an uncharacteristically rare display of patriotism, here's the schematic for the Pakistani flag as prescribed by Pakistan Standards Institution.

How to Draw the National Flag of the Dominion of Pakistan (sanctified Islamic Republic years later) - A Tutorial.

As once prescribed by Pakistan Standards Institution and illustrated and understood by me and me alone (which means that there are no guarantees! I could very well be drawing it upside down!)



I've taken centimetres as unit to explain the dimensions (corresponding to image's pixel dimensions).

Increase everything proportionally for any size. There is no border around the white band, of course! This is just to give the flag an outline for white pages.

• Flag proportions: 20 x 30cm
• White band: 20 x 7.5cm (pure white)
• Green panel: 20 x 22.5cm (dark green. To do: Get exact Pantone shade.)

• Circle A: Width 12cm (60 % of flag height)
• Circle B: Width 11cm (55% of flag height)
• Circle C: Width 4cm (20% of flag height)

Step by step:

1. Centre Circle A on the diagonal X (at point a)
2. Place Circle C's centre along the diagonal so that its outer touches Circle A's inner (point b).
3. Place Circle B's centre along the diagonal so that its centre lies on Circle C's outer (point c).
4. Create a five-point heraldic star and place it inside Circle C with its tip and bottom falling over the diagonal, as illustrated.

Note: Adjust/increase white band's width to accommodate flag-pole, if any.