Authorities have turned a blind eye to the open sale of flags with the pictures of Missiles, national leaders, cartoon characters including Mickey mouse, Donald duck etc. putting a question mark on the integrity of the national symbol.
The national flag is trade mark of a country designed after long consultations and recommendations of think tanks including high government officials, politicians, scholars and academicians which represent the ideology of a country in the international arena.
Around the world no one can see such mockery of any national flag, whereas the practice is being followed in our country for last few years and no one has taken any notice giving a free hand to those printing anything on flags at their own will using different shades of green colours which should not be allowed legally and ethically.
Having a look at our history, it was revealed that the national flag of Pakistan was adopted in its present form during a meeting of the Constituent Assembly on August 11, 1947, three days before the country’s independence, when it became the official flag of the Dominion of Pakistan.
It was afterwards retained by the current-day Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
The flag is a green field with a white crescent moon and has five-rayed star at its centre, and a vertical white stripe at the hoist side. Though the green colour is mandated only as ‘dark green’, its official and most consistent representation is Pakistan green, which is shaded distinctively darker.
The green colour represents Islam and the majority Muslims in Pakistan and the white stripe represents the minorities.
In the centre, the crescent and star symbolises progress and light respectively.
It is based on the original flag of the Muslim League, which itself drew inspiration from the flag of the Sultanate of Delhi and the Flag of the Mughal Empire.
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.