RECENTLY, while looking at a friend’s passport, I noticed something interesting about Pakistan’s national emblem that was officially unveiled in the mid-1950s. The emblem features a shield surrounded by a wreath of jasmine flowers. The shield is divided into four sections, each repre-senting a significant agricultural product of Pakistan.

These sections display cotton, wheat, tea and jute. Above the shield, there is a crescent and star, reflecting the national flag. Beneath the wreath, a scroll carries in Urdu the Quaid-i-Azam’s famed motto; Faith, Unity, Discipline.

Tea and jute, depicted on the emblem, are no longer grown in present-day Pakistan. In essence, the two crops were primarily associated with the erstwhile East Pakistan, which is today’s Bangladesh. One can only wonder why the emblem has not been updated to reflect the country’s current agricultural profile. It seems logical to replace tea and jute with crops more relevant to present-day Pakistan, such as rice and sugarcane.

It might be right time for the National Assembly to consider updating the emblem to better represent the nation’s contem-porary identity as well as agricultural reality.

Undoubtedly, such a change would ensure that the emblem effectively and accurately reflects the country’s current strengths and national identity.

Moin Ahmed Awan
Kandhkot

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2024