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Malaysia Flag
SKU: MYS35P
The flag of Malaysia, also known as the Jalur Gemilang or Stripes of Glory consists of 14 alternating red and white stripes in the fly and a blue canton bearing a crescent and 14-point star known as the Bintang Persekutuan or Federal Star. The stripes are equidistant representing the equal status of the federal government and the 13 states in the Malaysian federation. The 14 points of the star symbolize how the 14 entities come together in unity. The crescent symbolises the country’s official religion of Islam. The yellow star reflects the royal colour of the ruling Malays and blue canton the unity of the Malaysian people. Blue was originally chosen to represent Malaysia’s link to the Commonwealth, but this has gradually been replaced by the meaning above.
Earlier flag designs of the former Malaya Federation had displayed 11 alternate red and white stripes with a yellow crescent and a five-pointed star on a blue background in the canton. In the 1960’s, Malaya was fighting Communist insurrection similar to its other southeast-asian neighbours. As a result, it was decided to remove the five-pointed star since it resembled communist symbolism. The star was modified to include six more points. The Malayan flag was given Royal Assent by HRM King George VI on May 26, 1950, whereby it was immediately raised. Upon independence from Britain on August 31, 1957, it was raised to replace the British Union Flag.
The formation of Malaysia on September 16, 1963 resulted in a modification to the Malayan flag to include the new states in the federation. Three additional stripes were added and the star was given 14 points to reflect the federation of the original 11 states in Malaya plus Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore. Singapore’s expulsion from the federation two years later did not result in a change to the flag. However it was soon appropriated to represent Kuala Lumpur when it was designated a federal territory in 1972. Complicating matters even more, Malaysia added two additional federal territories Labuan (1984) and Putrajaya (2001), at which point the fourteenth stripe and star point was then again redefined to represent the federal government in general.
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