The third post for Takhleeq is out and its a special one.

In lieu of #Pakistan Independence day, I will look back on a familiar memory, talk about the history of Pakistan's flag, a color system, and design the flag itself to the accurate measurement. https://takhleeq.substack.com/p/t003-designing-the-flag-of-pakistan

The flag that we know today was used before the independence. It was first created to represent the All India Muslim League in 1906 before it was officially adopted by the first Constituent Assembly in August 11, 1947, just few days before leading to partition.

The official document published by the PSQCA in 1985, took responsibility of creating the flag & other government specific emblems.

The document records fine details on the visual blueprint, material, dimensions, as well as testing method to ensure quality before distribution.

I discovered a color system known as the British Colour Council or BCC which was used to select colors for government emblems and flags under the commonwealth.

Each color was transcribed in the book that would be used as a reference by #artists and textile industrialists alike.

The dark green shade used in the flag comes from this very book. The official color being: 𝗧𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 or 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗻 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻, are both defined in the dictionary of colors.

I was inspired by this great insta story by Khurram who built a narrative to design something for independence day.

I will take the same approach and use the blueprint I requested from PSQCA to draw the flag using @figmadesign

Using 3:2 ratio, white portion is set to 1/4ᵗʰ of the total size of the flag while the remaining 3/4ᵗʰ will be the green area (colored at the end).

We draw the diagonal from top-right hand corner to the bottom left hand corner of the green portion.

On this diagonal establish two points ‘A’ and ‘B’.

Point A should be equal distance from top right to bottom left hand corner i.e the center of the green portion. Point B should be at a distance from top right hand corner equal to 13/20ᵗʰ of the width of the flag.

With point ‘A’ as the center and a radius equal to 3/10ᵗʰ of the width of the flag described as the arc. With point B as the center and a radius equal to 11/40ᵗʰ of the width of the flag describe the second arc.

The Area enclosed by the two arcs forms the crescent.

The dimensions of the star are determined by the circle with radius of 1/10ᵗʰ of the flag width. The star lies with one point on the diagonal & pointing to the top-right hand corner of the flag. The tip of this point lies on the diagonal at a point where the larger arc cuts.

Add the final touches with color and we will achieve the final design. Having removed the dashed lines, the flag now looks complete.

The flag is a symbol of national identity but it is also defines the meticulous effort that went into defining standards to maintain the longevity of the flag.

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