Shib Narayan Das, the JaSaD leader and designer of the first Bangladeshi flag, has died at the age of 78.

He passed away around 9:25am at the ICU of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University in Dhaka on Friday, confirmed JaSaD President Hasanul Haq Inu.

Das leaves behind a wife and son.

“My father’s body has been kept at the BIRDEM mortuary,” said his son Arnob Aditya. “His body will be donated here and his cornea will be donated to Sandhani [a voluntary organisation run by medical college students that manages blood and organ donations]. Throughout his life, my father gave all for our country.”

Das was admitted to Dhaka’s Samorita Hospital with breathing difficulties on Apr 1.

On Thursday night, he was moved from Samorita to BSMMU.

The flag designed by Das, which included a map of Bangladesh, was an integral part of Bangladesh’s struggle for independence. The flag was flown for the first time at the Kala Bhaban at Dhaka University on Mar 2, 1971.

Das, a Chhatra League leader at the time, was one of those who helped make the iconic red and green flag with a yellow image of Bangladesh at its centre. A group of the student organisation’s activists had come up with the design at a Dhaka University residential hall on Jun 6, 1970.

In 1972, after Bangladesh gained its independence, the government tasked artist Quamrul Hassan to re-design the flag. Hassan’s design removed the yellow map and finalised the green and red design as Bangladesh’s national flag.