Praseodymium doped barium sodium borate glasses were prepared using conventional melt-quenching technique with the compositions of 10BaO:25Na2O:(65 – x)B2O3:xPr2O3 (where x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 mol%) and investigated their physical, optical and luminescence properties. The absorption spectra showed the bands located at 442, 468, 480, 586, 1511 and 1909 nm, corresponding to the 3H4→3P2, 3P1, 3P0, 1D2, 3F3 and 3F2, respectively. The strongest absorption bands belong to wavelength at 442 nm in UV–Vis region and 1511 nm in NIR region. The emission spectra, observed with 442 nm excitation wavelengths, showed the emission peaks at 492 and 529 nm, denoted for green emission, and at 600 nm, denoted for orange emission. Judd–Ofelt analysis was also employed in this work to determine the potential of the glass samples for photonic applications.