National Flag Hoisting Day today

Bangladesh marks historic National Flag Hoisting Day on March 2, honouring the historic first raising of the national flag at Bot tola in Dhaka University’s Kola Bhaban premises in 1971.

The flag was hoisted by A S M Abdur Rab, then vice president of the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU).

The flag, featuring a golden map in the center of a red circle on a green field, symbolised the country’s aspirations for independence. On that day, the Pakistani flag was lowered at Dhaka University and the Secretariat, replaced by the Bangladeshi flag in acts that galvanized students and citizens against oppression and injustice.

The first hoisting of the Bangladesh national flag on foreign soil occurred on April 18, 1971, at the Bangladesh Mission in Kolkata, India, where Deputy High Commissioner M. Hossain Ali raised the flag in allegiance to the Bangladesh government.

To marking the historic day, Dhaka University has organised commemorative programmes, including a ceremony already at 10:00am under the historic banyan tree near Kala Bhavan. A S M Abdur Rab, a veteran freedom fighter and the first flag hoister, will attend as the guest of honour.