Presidential Seal (left) and Presidential Flag (right)
Top left:Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first president of Bangladesh. He was the president from 17 April 1971 to 12 January 1972 and from 25 January 1975 to 15 August 1975.
Top right:Ziaur Rahman, the first president elected directly by the people of Bangladesh. He was the president from 21 April 1977 to 30 May 1981.
Bottom left:Hussain Muhammad Ershad, the last president of Bangladesh directly elected by the people. He was the president from 11 December 1983 to 6 December 1990, a regime known as a dictatorship.
Bottom right:Mohammad Abdul Hamid, the longest serving president of Bangladesh. He was the president from 14 March 2013 to 24 April 2023.
After Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first president of Bangladesh, there is no single numbering system for the subsequent presidents that is universally accepted and followed, even by government representatives. Different sources may calculate the numbering in different ways, depending whether they count acting presidents, how multiple terms are treated, whether the count is by number of terms or number of individuals, and other factors. For example, A. Q. M. Badruddoza Chowdhury, although he served only a single term, has been described in a government publication and in the press as the 16th President of Bangladesh,[1][2] as well as the 15th,[3] the 13th[4] and the 11th.[5]
A list published in 2018 by Bdnews24.com appears to coincide with statements made by the country's Election Committee, making Mohammad Abdul Hamid the 20th President when first elected in 2013,[6] yet contradicts the numbering of a list published in 2016 on the President's own official website.[7] The Bangladesh High Commission, Singapore, in 2018 lists him as the 22nd President.[8] Other reports about previous presidents, including some by Bangladesh's newspaper of record the Daily Star, do not correspond with either list.[9][10]
^Karim, M.M. Rezaul (December 2001). "Election 2001: The Triumph of People's Power". Bangladesh Quarterly. Vol. 22. p. 21. AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury, who took over as the Foreign Minister after the victory of the 4-party alliance in the parliamentary election of 1 October, was sworn-in as the 16th President of the country at the Darbar Hall of Bangabhaban on 14 November evening.
^Country Report: Bangladesh. The Unit. 2001 – via Google Books. In mid-November parliament chose A Q M Badruddoza Chowdhury, another BNP member and the sole candidate, as the 16th president of Bangladesh, succeeding Shahabuddin Ahmed
^"Polls still in doubt as key issues unresolved". The Daily Star. 8 November 2008. Retrieved 1 November 2018. Badruddoza, the country's 15th president, spoke in favour of increasing the power of the president.
^Data India – Issues 27-52. Press Institute of India. 2001. p. 1052 – via Google Books. Psor A Q M Badruddoza Chowdhury, founding secretary-general of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party, was on Nov 14 sworn-in as Bangladesh's 13th President.
^"New president for Bangladesh". 12 November 2001. Retrieved 29 October 2018 – via BBC News. Foreign Minister AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury has been elected unopposed as Bangladesh's 11th president.
^"BNP chalks out programmes marking Zia's birth anniversary". The Daily Star. 18 January 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2018. BNP will hold a discussion at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh today afternoon, marking party founder Ziaur Rahman's 80th birth anniversary, said a party press release yesterday. ... Born on January 19, 1936 at Bagbari in Bogra, Zia had become the country's 7th president and formed Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).