at his residence in 32 Dhanmondi on 23 March 1971 campus, where a flag representing Bangladesh for the first time was raised on 2 March 1971 The first version of the flag was designed and made by a group of student leaders and activists from the
Swadheen Bangla Nucleus on 6 June 1970. The work took place in room 108 of Iqbal Hall (now Sergeant
Zahurul Haq Hall) at
Dhaka University. The students involved in the design included
Kazi Aref Ahmed,
ASM Abdur Rab,
Shajahan Siraj,
Manirul Islam (Marshal Moni), Swapan Kumar Choudhury,
Serajul Alam Khan, Quamrul Alam Khan Khasru,
Hasanul Haq Inu, and Yousuf Salahuddin Ahmed. The flag was crafted from cloth donated by Bazlur Rahman Lasker, the owner of Apollo Tailors,
Dhaka New Market. A map of
East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) was first traced on a tracing paper from an atlas by Hasanul Haq Inu, Yousuf Salahuddin Ahmed and Enamul Haq, at Enamul's room (312) in Quaid-I Azam Hall (now Titumir Hall), EPUET (now
BUET). Later, the map was painted in the red circle by
Shib Narayan Das. On 2 March 1971, this initial version of the flag was hoisted in Bangladesh for the first time at Dhaka University, by student leader
A. S. M. Abdur Rab, the then Vice President of
Dhaka University Central Students' Union (DUCSU). The flag was conceived so as to exclude the
star and crescent considered as symbols of
West Pakistan (now
Pakistan). Another source states the first flag hoisted at Dhaka University on 2 March 1971 was stitched by Mini Quadir on 1 March 1971 upon requests from her cousin Monirul Haque, the president of Dhaka metropolitan
Awami League. Using materials bought from Dhaka
Sadarghat. On the next day upon another request by Monirul Haque a white cutout of the East Pakistan map was stitched onto the flag and later coloured golden using afsaan (
mehendi) upon reconsideration. The flag was hoisted at Dhaka University. On 23 March 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman officially hoisted the flag for the first time at
his house in 32
Dhanmondi. According to his pre-announced instructions, a general holiday is observed across the country on this day. In April 1971, the flag was hoisted for the first time in foreign mission, when Deputy High Commissioner Hosen Ali along with other officials declared their alliance with the newly formed Mujibnagar Government. On 25 July 1971,
Zakaria Pintoo, captain of the
Shadhin Bangla Football Team became the first person to hoist the Bangladesh flag on foreign soil, before a match in
Nadia district of the Indian state of
West Bengal. On 13 January 1972, the flag was modified. The map from the centre was removed, and the red disk moved towards the hoist so as to be visually centred when the flag is in flight on a mast. ==Symbolism==