^{This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website}

Balochistan (Pakistan)

by Arfan Hashmi, 23 May 2005

Description of the flag
Flag of the Baloch people
- Variant of the flag
Meaning of the flag
Baluch Warriors Organization
Baloch National Movement
Balochistan National Party (Awami)
Balochistan National Party (Mengal)

Description of the Flag

The Balochistan flag shows stylised mountains of this barren province and the principal mode of transport - the camel.
Arfan Hashmi, 23 May 2005

Flag of the Baloch people

image by Eugene Ipavec, 11 December 2007

At the site at http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Quad/3034/ there is a representation of a flag for Balochistan. As many of the links on that site seem spurious, there is some doubt as to the existence or authenticity of this flag.
Thanh-Tâm Lę, Chris Pinette, Phil Nelson, 28 January 1999

The flag internationally recognized is at this site where you can get a link and all the meanings of the flag and information about it.. The old flags are no longer used. The flag with light sky blue, white star and green over red is the international flag of Baluchistan, including the Baluch people of Baluchistan, Iran, Balochistan, Pakistan, Baluchistan, Afghanistan, and Baluchistan, Turkmenistan. The flag was invented on 27 January 1982 by the Baloch United Movement which is now the government of Baluchistan.
Adaar, Baloch, 16 September 2001

Meaning of the Flag

Red is the sign of moral heroism for those who suffered martyrdom. Green is the sign of the blossoming spring of our freedom. Blue is the sign of our marine and celestial frontiers. The white star is the sign of the moral heroism, manliness and generosity.
Adaar, Baloch, 16 September 2001

The website at http://www.balochistan.blgov.com/nationalflag.html reports:

National Flag of Baluchistan
The aim of this document is to introduce in brief the history of the current National Flag of the greater Baluchland and to help those who
use the Baluch national flag to reproduce it correctly. The document contains the basic rules for the construction of the flag as well as
the standard colors to be used and known.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: The National Flag was first introduced by the leaders of the Western Baluchland in 1960, in Egypt, Romania and later in Iraq for the National Front for the Liberation of Western Baluchland to represent the Baluch Nation in their struggle for independence and free Baluchland from the illegal domination, oppression and occupation of the Persian tyrant kings. It was subsequently presented to the members of the international delegation at the peace conferences that devised a plan for Baluch Nation independence. Under the same flag the Baluch leaders announced the formation of the first "Baluchi Government in Exile" in 1961 in Egypt and fought a drawn-out war until 1972, in order to revive the Baluch Nation national independence, lost since 1415.

Flag of Baluchistan 1965
In 1961 and the creation of the Government of Baluchland, the old "Chakari flag" which was red with the picture of a black panther, the new one was adopted by its parliament as the official Flag of the government of Baluchland in the country and abroad. Following these historic background, the National Flag is widely adopted in Greater Baluchland anonymously and has been set aloft by various Baluchi political parties and entities in all sectors of the Baluchland and abroad. The Flag of grater Baluchland has thus been consecrated by the blood of all Baluch martyrs patriots of this century, from tens of thousands who fell in defending the independence movement under the new government and leadership.

The flag was aloft when Nasir was immolated in 1960; it was aloft when wounded Baluch on stretchers were placed before the firing squads under cruel Iranian Shah rules; it was aloft when Baluch civilians were gassed in their hundreds in villages in Aahurran and Zardkouh in Baluchland; it was aloft when hundreds of Baluch innocent were driven from their villages and towns that have been set alight since 1958-59; and, it remains aloft everywhere today—more than 5 decades after the loss of Baluchland independence--when Baluch are redoubling their perennial struggle to regain their dignity and equality with other nations by reviving their right to choose the course of their own future.

DESCRIPTION OF THE NATIONAL FLAG:
The National Flag of Greater Baluchland consists of a tricolor field, with a five dimension star in the blue field.

TRICOLOR FIELD: The Baluch National flag has two horizontal bands. The upper stripe is green, the first one sky blue with a white five dimension star and the bottom band is red. The width of the flag is two-thirds of the length.

NATIONAL FIVE DIMENSION STAR: The primary Baluch characteristic of the flag is the white five dimension star at the beginning. The 5 dimension of the star is the Baluchi Standard Language, secularism, cultural, the heroic history among the Baluch, stretching into antiquity. The five angle star disk has many decades' olds; every angle is equal in size and shape. The number angles hold a primary importance in the native Baluch heroic secularism and cultural tradition of the Baluch Nation.

Using the given flag dimensions of 2:3, the star disk has a diameter of 1.0 including the rays and 0.5 without them. These rays have straight sides, come to a sharp point at their outer end, and form an inverse point where they meet each other and the central disk. The star appears in the exact center of the sky blue of the flag. The star is placed so that the flag's vertical meridian passes through its topmost point as described above.

FLAG OF BALUCHISTAN
Meaning of the 4 colours
RED sign is our moral heroism for those who suffer martyrdom.
GREEN sign is the blossomed spring of our freedom.
SKY BLUE sign is the might of our marine and celestial frontiers.
WHITE START sign is our moral heroism, manliness and generosity

Provided by Webmaster of http://www.balochistan.blgov.com/nationalflag.html, 19 July 2006

Variants of the flag

image by Eugene Ipavec, 9 December 2007

At http://www.bso-na.org/London_Photos02042007.html are many good shots (http://www.bso-na.org/sitebuilder/images/Uk_demo10_070204.JPG-499x377.jpg) of a variant of the the flag of Balochistan, with darker colors throughout, and the star is replaced by a 27-rayed white sun.
Eugene Ipavec, 9 December 2007

image by Chrystian Kretowicz and Eugene Ipavec, 4 August 2008

The variant presented by Eugene Ipavec, with the 24-rays sun, although well documented by a photo of it being actually waved (in London) is nowhere to be seen elsewhere. In 2005, the Balochistan Peoples Party-BPP- was admitted to UNPO with the flag of 12-rayed sun. BPP represents only the West Balochistan (the Iranian part in Sistan-wa-Balochistan Province) and, at the time of admission to UNPO, called on their eastern brothers (in Pakistan) to follow their move and join UNPO too. UNPO lists West Balochistan as a member, with the flag (12 rays) It also lists Balochistan as a member, but without the flag. Then, in 2006, the Government-in-Exile of Balochistan was formed in Jerusalem, Israel, presumably claiming to represent all parts of Balochistan (Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan) with the declared capital in Kalat (Pakistani Balochistan) and the present holder of the title of Mir of Kalat, Suleman Dawood Khan (transcription of his name varies widely) as the King of Balochistan. That government uses the same flag as BPP, and describes it on its website as follow:
"Green: its the color of prosperity - the dry barren land of Balochistan turns green after rainfall as small plants sprout. Liberty is like rainfall, and when achieved, it will sprout the Baloch nation into prosperity.
Red: it is the color of blood, hardiness and valor - the Baloch martyrs proudly sacrificed their life and shed their blood on the soil of Balochistan for liberty.
Blue: it is the color of ocean and sky, and it signifies vigilance, perseverance and justice - the Baloch will continue their struggle until freedom is achieves and justice is served.
White: it is the color of peace, purity and innocence - the Baloch people want to live in peace and harmony as a free nation.
Rising Sun: it is a sign of a new beginning - the Baloch nation begins a new day as a free nation.
Chrystian Kretowicz, 25 April 2008

image by Chrystian Kretowicz and Eugene Ipavec, 4 August 2008

There is yet another flag presented on the website? at: http://www.balochistaninfo.com/balochpressnews2006.htm of Great Balochistan - a horizontal tri-color of blue-green-red with the rising sun in the middle. The conclusion: there is no single flag of Balochistan yet.
Relevant links:
http://www.ostomaan.org/BNP2005/BPPUNOP2005.htm
http://www.balochistaninfo.com/200604/BalochNationalismitsoriginandDevelopment.pdf
http://thebaluch.com/
http://governmentofbalochistan.blogspot.com/2006/09/hoist-flag-of-balochistan-to-express.html
Chrystian Kretowicz, 25 April 2008

Baluch Warriors Organization

image by Eugene Ipavec, 11 December 2007

This is a flag researched by Juanjo Gonzalez that was used for a revolutionary movement some years ago, but he is not sure if it is currently used.
Jaume Ollé, 16 September 1996

This flag (white with upside down red star) is used by Baloutche Warna (Baluch Warriors Organization) led by Sirdar Akbar Khan Bugt. The flag is shown in the Flags of Aspirant Peoples chart. Two other flags are reported from no vexillological sources: the same flag with a green stripe in the lower part (the green is attributed to joining with the Islamic liberation struggle) and the same flag as the first one but with a green star instead red. It may be a variant of the first one or a mistake, or perhaps is used by a split-off of the Baloutche Warna.
Jaume Ollé, 1 February 1999

Baloch National Movement

image by Chrystian Kretowicz, 25 February 2009

Yet another political flag from Balochistan:
http://picasaweb.google.com/B.N.Movement
http://picasaweb.google.com/B.N.Movement/FlagOfBNMBalochNationalMovement#
http://picasaweb.google.com/B.N.Movement/GwaderShaeedAkbarNawabAkbarKhanBugtiDay26082008#5240216524258013698

Also, I came across some photos of the original 1839 flag of Kalat:
http://www.thebaluch.com/071608_AghaNaurozAhmadzai.php
and the blog of the Government of Balochistan in Exile confirming, once again, its flag: http://governmentofbalochistan.blogspot.com/
Chrystian Kretowicz, 25 February 2009

Balochistan National Party (Awami)

image by Chrystian Kretowicz, 27 January 2010

"In 1997, a faction within the BNP, led by Israrullah Zehri changed its loyalties and formed Balochistan National Party (Awami). Akhtar Mengal accused the Federal Government of bribing the renegade members of the party to do so. But the final straw happened to be the testing of Pakistan's nuclear weapons on Ras Koh in Chaghi without taking the Provincial Government into confidence first. Due to all this tension, especially BNP's protest on the Nuclear Tests, the Akhtar Mengal-led government was dismissed and with the help of Israrullh Zehri's Balochistan National Party (Awami), a new government was formed in Balochistan."

In 2008, Balochistan National Party (Awami) won 7 out of 65 seats in the provincial assembly of Balochistan.
Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_National_Party_Balochistan.svg

The flag of the Balochistan National Party (Awami) (BNP-A) is vertically divided 1:3 green and red, with four white stars on the red field.
Chrystian Kretowicz, 27 January 2010

Balochistan National Party (Mengal)

image by Chrystian Kretowicz, 27 January 2010

Balochistan National Party (Mengal)
بلوچستان نيشنل پارٹی

"BNP believes in national right of self-determination of people of Balochistan through peaceful and democratic struggle."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balochistan_National_Party

"Sardar Attahullah Mengal is Chief of BNP and Party has popular support in Balochistan province. Sardar Attahullah was first elected Chief Minister of Balochistan province in 1972, but soon after pro-people reforms and ideas, Punjabi dominated Pakistan military overthrow Mengal Government and sent troops to eliminate political leaders and get control of Balochistan resources.

Sardar Mengal along with Nawab Marri and political leaders of Balochistan sent to Jail. After spending four years in Jail Mr Mengal went to exile and returned in 1996 and again revived the Party which sweep the 1997 election in Balochistan province despite Pakistan military and intelligence agencies opposition, his son Akhter Mengal sworn in as Chief minister of Balochistan province.

On 28th May 1998, Pakistan military tested its nuclear bomb in Balochistan without taking in to confidence to Balochistan government and BNP who opposed the test on Baloch soil. After one month of nuclear test and opposition, Pakistan intelligence agencies succeeded to create rift and differences with in Party and Syed Eshan Shah and Israrullah Zehri members/ ministers of BNP was paid Rupees 80 Million by agencies to change the loyalty of members of provincial assembly. After creating division and rift federal government installed new pro-Punjabi regime in Balochistan in August 1998. In 2002 election BNP members have been bared to take part in election freely, which allowed pro-military religious alliance MMA to win all moderate and nationalist constituencies in Balochistan. After the cold blooded murder of Baloch Nationalist Leader Shaeed Nawab Akber Khan Bugti on 26 August 2006; BNP resigned in protest with it two members in National parliament and two in provincial including all the local bodies elected members. Balochistan National Party boycotted the general elections of 18 Febuary 2008. Sardar Akhter Mengal is president and party has central cabinet and central committee comprised on 44 members from all over Balochistan.

BNP believes in secular, and nationalist ideas and party struggle is focused on politico-economic autonomy for Balochistan. Party also believes on Non-Nuclearization and De-Militarization of Balochistan region which is presently testing and nuclear developing site of Pakistan military."
http://www.balochistannationalparty.org/jmb/

The flag of the Balochistan National Party (Mengal) is a red-yellow-green horizontal tricolour.

Chrystian Kretowicz, 27 January 2010