HISTORY & HERALDRY

ARMED FORCES

Tri Service

Army

Navy

Air Force

Police

PRINCELY STATES

Bahawalpur

Khairpur

Punjab

History & Heraldry

Until 1947 Pakistan was a part of Birish India. On 15 August 1947 it was granted independence at the same time as India. In the time of the Raj Bahawalpur which with a surface of  more than 45,325 km2, occupies more than half of present day Pakistan, was by far the most important state. Pakistan is also composed of the North-western Porvinces, Sindh, Baluchistan and a part of Punjab. About Kashmir there is a quarrel with India since independence.

Pakistan at first became a kingdom with King George VI (†1952) as its head of state. On 23 March 1956 the Islamic Republic of Pakistan was proclaimed.  In 1971 East Pakistan left the republic with the help of India and became an independent state with the name of Bangla Desh.

The flag of Pakistan was adopted on 11 August 1947 anticipating Independence. The flag has a proportion of 2 : 3, the width of the white stripe at the mast end is on quarter of the lenght of the flag. In the green part is a crescent-and-star.

This crescent and star is the national emblem of Pakistan, the crescent inclined

The national emblem was printed on the first coinage of Pakistan, on the reverse the name of the Government of Pakistan in latin lettering and in in the form of an arab tughra. Coins of Bahawalpur State were taken as an example.

King and President

Formally the the royal arms of King George VI and Queen Elizbeth were also valid for Pakistan in the time of the Dominion but no such arms have been found in direct relation with Pakistan. Also, no flag of the Governor General of Pakistan, of which there have been four until 1956, is known.

The Royal arms of George VI and Elizabeth II on half-crowns.

In 1956 a Presidential flag was adopted. This was dark blue with a crescent and star wthin a garland with the name Pakistan underneath.

The Presidential flag was changed twice. The first time, in 1967 it was replaced by the white and green of the national flag, the inscription extended with the word Pakistan in Bengali script.

In 1973, after the loss of Bangla Desh, the flag was changed for the second time by omitting the inscription in Bengali.

1967-1973

1973-present

The Republic

Anticipating the proclamation of the Republic a national achievement was adopted about 1955. It replaced the tughra of the Government of Pakistan and is, in fact, the achievement of state. It has not been designed with the cooperation of  the College of Arms like most of the achievements of other UK colonies and dominions. Like the flag, the achievement has the colours white and green. The shield is quarterly, in the first a green diamond charged with a plant of cotton. In the second is a branch of a tea-bush, in the third a sheaf of wheat and in the fourth four plants of jute per fess argent and vert counterchanged.

The crest is a green crescent and star.

Around the shield is a garland of narcissus-flowers and in base is a green scroll with the motto in Urdu:  Imân, Itehad, Nazm, (Faith, Unity and Disciplin).

ð See illustration in the head of this essay.

Armed Forces

Tri Service

Army

Navy

Air Force

Police

Princely States

Bahawalpur

The State of Bahawalpur was a princely state of the Punjab in what is now Pakistan, stretching along the southern bank of the Sutlej and Indus Rivers, with its capital city at Bahawalpur. The state was counted amongst the Rajputana states (now Rajasthan) to the southeast. The state was founded in 1690 by Bahadur Khan II. Nawab Mohammad Bahawal Khan III signed the state's first treaty with the British on 22 February 1833, guaranteeing the independence of the Nawab. In 1879 the British Agency was abolished.

In 1941, the state had a population of 1,341,209 living in an area of 45,911 km². It was divided into three districts: Bahawalpur, Rahimyar Khan and Bahawalnagar. After two centuries of varying degrees of independence, the state acceded to Pakistan on 7 October 1947 and was merged into the province of West Pakistan on 14 October 1955.

Sadeq Mohammad Khan IV

1866-1899

An achievement was granted in 1877 at the occasion of the Durbar in Delhi. It is was designed and published by Robert Taylor. [1]

It is:

Arms: Sable , three palmleaves per pale Or and in chief four double quatrefoils Argent seeded Or.

Crest: A five-pointed star and a crescent, Argent.

Supporters: Two pelicans rousant, Argent, billed and membered Or.

Motto: DOST SADIQ (Friend Sadiq)

Lambrequines: Sable and Or.

A newer rendering omits the lambrequined helmet [2]:

Soon afterwards, probably after the abolition of British agency in 1879 or at the introduction of the three-coloured flag in 1885, the field of the arms was changed and became: Tierced per pale, Gules, Or and Sable. The palmleaves were tinctured Vert.

Sadeq Mohammad Khan V

1907-1955

In 1924 the arms were changed again.

Arms:  ¼: 1. Sable, three palmleaves Or, in chief four double quatrefoils Argent; 2. Gules, a Crescent and star Or; 3. Barry wavy Or and Azure; Or, a camel proper.

Crest, Supporters and Motto as before.

A last version shows the achievement augmented with the jewels of the Order of the Indian Empire, the Order of the Star of India and the Knights’ Cross of the Victorian Order of which Sadiq Muhammad became a member in 1931, 1941 and 1922 respectively.

Consequently the augmented achievement dates form 1941 or later.

Khairpur

The State of Khairpur was a princely state on the Indus River in what is now Pakistan, with its capital city at Khairpur. Together with Bahawalpur, the state was counted amongst the Punjab states rather than the neighbouring Rajputana states (now Rajasthan) to the east.

Mir Ali Murad Khan Talpur

1842-1894

A heraldic achievement was granted to Mir Ali Murad at the occasion of the Durbar in Delhi of 1877. It is:

Arms: Sable a fesse wavy between 3 falcons rising Argent

Crest: A date palm proper

Supporters: Hogdeer proper

Motto: Mobárik báshad

Lambrequines: Sable and Argent  [3]

Hog Deer (Axis porcinus - Cervidæ)

The Hog Deer has a rather stocky appearance, having short legs and a muscular body. This rather pig like stature resulted in it being given its name of the Hog Deer. The coat is a dark brownish color. A dark black stripe runs down the spine from the neck to the base of the tail. Males tend to be darker in color than the females. The males grow antlers which have three tines.