This article tracks the altering relationships between language planning and development aid over a period of 70 years from the end of the Second World War to the present day. Using documentary resources – especially the published proceedings of the Language and Development Conferences (LDCs) – the article distinguishes a number of important milestones. It is claimed that the period under review can usefully be explored in terms of three “development phases”. The article pays special attention to English and it shows that contributors to the LDCs have become more questioning about the role of English in development as awareness of multilingualism has increased.