Flag of Malaysia

What the flag of Malaysia looks like

The Malaysian flag has fourteen horizontal stripes of equal width, alternating red and white, with red at the top and white at the bottom. In the upper hoist corner is a dark blue canton. It covers the top eight stripes and runs about half the width of the flag. Inside it, a yellow crescent opens toward the fly, and beside it sits a yellow star with fourteen points. The flag is twice as wide as it is tall, with a 1:2 ratio.

The crescent and star are both drawn in the same shade of yellow, which is a royal color in Malay tradition. The star is called Bintang Persekutuan, the Federal Star. Its fourteen points have the same meaning as the fourteen stripes. The Malaysia flag emoji shows the same stripes, canton and crescent in simplified form.

Malaysia flag meaning and symbolism

The fourteen stripes and the fourteen points of the star stand for the equal status in the federation of the thirteen member states and the federal territories (Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya). The fourteen points of the star represent the unity among these entities.

The colors have these meanings. Red stands for bravery and white for purity. The blue canton symbolizes the unity of the Malaysian people. Yellow is the royal color of the Malay rulers. The crescent represents Islam, the country's state religion. Red, white and blue together also symbolize Malaysia's inclusion within the Commonwealth.

History of the Malaysian flag

The design goes back to the Federation of Malaya, which gained independence from Britain on 31 August 1957. Its flag was chosen in 1949-50 from a public competition, and the winning design came from Mohamed Hamzah, a 29-year-old architect in the Public Works Department in Johor Bahru. The final version was approved on 19 May 1950 and had an eleven-pointed star, and eleven stripes, for the eleven states of the federation. It was first raised on 26 May 1950.

On 16 September 1963, Malaya joined with North Borneo (Sabah), Sarawak and Singapore to form Malaysia. The flag was changed to fourteen stripes and a fourteen-pointed star to represent the larger federation. When Singapore left in 1965, the flag was not changed. After Kuala Lumpur became a federal territory in 1974, the fourteenth point and stripe came to stand for the federal territories (later joined by Labuan and Putrajaya). This is why the number 14 is on the flag even though the country has thirteen states.

The flag was given the name Jalur Gemilang in 1997 by then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, and it is flown on National Day, 31 August. During National Day celebrations everyone is encouraged to fly it at home and at work, and under the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act 1963 it may not be used for commercial purposes without written permission of a minister.

Malaysian flag vs the American flag

Many people ask why the Malaysian flag looks like the flag of the United States. The US flag has thirteen stripes and fifty stars and is much older, dating from 1777. Malaysia's has fourteen stripes, and a crescent and star in place of the stars. Both belong to the stars and stripes family of flags, but the Malaysian design came from the 1949 national flag competition. The designer's entry is said to have been inspired by the flag of Johor, with white stripes added to the blue field. It also resembles the flag of Liberia, which was modeled on the US flag.