The Pakistan Flag, designed by the Quaid-e-Azam, is dark green in color, with a white vertical bar, a white crescent in the center, and a five-pointed star. It is generally said that the white and green field represents peace and prosperity, the crescent means progress, and the star denotes light and knowledge.

On August 11, 1947, Liaquat Ali Khan presented the flag to the Constituent Assembly for its formal approval. In his speech he observed : " . . . the flag is not the flag of any one political party or any one community. The flag is the flag of the Pakistan nation. . . . The flag of every nation is not merely a piece of cloth, but it is what it stands for, and I can say without any fear of contradiction that this flag which I have the honor to present to this House, will stand for freedom, liberty, and equality for those who owe allegiance to this flag of Pakistan."

That, of course, was 1947, and since then a lot of water has passed under the bridge. The flag has taken on a different meaning. It is also now in strong competition with other flags, not only outside the motherland, but also in this very country. Today, this nation has so many flags that it is practically a Herculean task to keep track of them.

The various political parties, whether they are nationally based, province-based, city-based, or even tonga-based, have a flag. The politico-religious parties too have their standards. The ethno-political organizations need a flag to identify themselves. Student organizations proudly display their own brand of flags. It seems that flags now play a prominent role in this nation’s political opera.

What has become of the green and white that was visualized by the Founding Fathers as the symbol of equal privileges, equal opportunity, and equal freedom ? What has become of this banner under which hundreds of thousands lost their lives and millions of Muslims migrated to a land they could proudly call their home ? What has become of this standard for which the valiant armed forces sacrificed themselves in order to protect the citizens of this country ?

The flag is still ever-present and symbolically and ritually raised up and down on the poles outside the official buildings. The flag is still much desired by political aspirants who want it on their cars, so the world and the traffic cop can distinguish between an ordinary citizen and an unelected advisor to the Chief Minister. The flag is still on the table where the billions of dollars worth of MOUs are signed and where one always see the signatories clumsily get up in unison and exchange the documents.

However, what is now happening is that the people are not satisfied with just one flag. What they want is a two-flag country. Take the example of the "rulers". (In this country, those elected / selected become undisputed title-deed holders, or rulers, of the country until they are unceremoniously chucked out). The national flag and the party flag are in equal importance on the car, in the office, in the garden in official / non-official residences, etc., of the party "rulers" from the top to the lower hierarchy. The party "jalsas" are full of these party flags. Of course, there, the country’s flag may be spotted if one looks real hard all around.

On Independence Day, at the SITE Stadium, Chief Minister Abdullah Shah spoke emotionally about the need to respect the national flag and that any kind of allegiance to another flag was anathema to him. Good words from a decent man. O.K., but then after the end of the program, when the same personality got into his Landcruiser or Pajero, alongwith the Labor Minister and the latest Senator from Karachi, the vehicle had two flags : the green and white, and the tri-colored, so revered by Jiyalas ! A couple of hours later, Rana Shaikh’s sycophantic regurgitator was showing the usual clips about leaders paying respect at the Quaid’s mausoleum (Why is it that every time there are the same types of clips where each and every person at the grave is jostling to come into the view of the ubiquitous TV eye ?). A past Chief Minister, and presently the head of the provincial wing of the party, had brought in a motley crowd of party leaders, workers, and hanger-ons. Lo and behold ! All one could see was a sea of the very tri-colored flags of the party. For a moment it seemed that they had come to pay homage at the Mazar of the Founder of the party, not of the country !

Then there have been many other episodes in this nation’s history where the "other" flags are more in "circulation". At the World Cup in Australia, a few years back, where the Pakistan team emerged as the World Champions, the viewers witnessed a spectacle never before attempted by denizens of any country. Here too, tri-colors belonging to an ethnic movement were fluttering side by side with the Piyara Parcham of Pakistan. Unfortunately, both the timing and the place for this kind of exhibition were way, way out of line.

The patriotic people of Pakistan have become used to the disrespect shown to the flag by many in the audience who frequent the movie houses. It seems they are more impatient to get on with the show, rather than stand in attention for a couple of minutes.

The younger generation craves to hold and to wave the flag on important national days. One can see the gleam in their eyes when they do that. They truly show their love for the flag, even though they may not yet know what the Muslims of the sub-continent went thru so that today they can proudly raise their very own flag. Alas, the day they come into their late teens or adult life, they may switch most of their allegiance to another flag.

What this country, thus, needs is to introduce the love for the flag in the minds of the populace. There is an imperative need to get rid of the flags of all parties, and have only one flag under which they would all stand and to which they will pledge their loyalty and allegiance. The time has arrived to donate all these flags to the boys who clean the trucks and the buses. The moment has arrived to ban, once and for all, all these other flags.

The 125 million citizens of Pakistan should and must salute and respect and fight for the green and white that is recognized all over the globe as the flag of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Has anyone ever seen any other flag other than the Old Glory at American rallies, whether they be Democratic, Republican, or the United We Stand ? No siree, that country has become the World Power because the citizens in the land of Uncle Sam undauntingly prove their loyalty by standing up, facing the flag, right hand over the heart, and in a strong voice filled with patriotic fervor, recite : "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." This is one super way to make a great country and a great people !