Digital Collage, 2021
1. The central blue portion of the flag represents the Indus River, which flows and separates into five to represent the large Punjabi population in the Punjab region (land of five rivers). This section finally ends in the Balochistan region where it meets the sea, inhabiting the only two major ports in Pakistan, both of which were funded by the Chinese government. 2. The administrative flags of each region within Pakistan are exclusively white and dark green; therefore, in this flag, I represent each region with colours that relate to their physical geography instead 3. The tilted star intersecting the red, blue, and beige regions of the flag symbolises the capital, Islamabad. 4. The gold and green star and crescent in the upper centre of the flag are synonymous with Pakistani cultural traditions and values, as the nation is unified mostly under the Islamic faith, as opposed to ethnic or geographical boundaries. Despite this, the constitution still grants freedom to all its citizens, regardless of their religion, although certain political restrictions still apply, such as becoming prime minister. For a nation that established its existence based on religious unity alone, it seemed only right that all minority religions were represented on the flag as well. 5. The pink tear in the top right symbolises the disputed lands of Jammu and Kashmir. 6. The bottom centre includes a sticker of Pakistan Security Printing Corporation, responsible for the manufacture of the Pakistani rupee. 7. As opposed to a custom packing label, for this flag I decided to use the same torn British East India Company sticker and then put the first Pakistani postage stamp over the top. The decision to put it over the top of the torn British East India Company sticker was to symbolise the political distancing Pakistan has made in contrast to most other former colonies.