JALUR GEMILANG
THE NATIONAL FLAG



The Flag of Malaysia is based on the Flag of the Federation of Malaya. That flag was designed in 1949 by a government architect Mohamad Hamzah who beat 372 others in a national-level competition to design the flag. Mohamad's design was chosen on Nov 28, 1949.

After some amendments by the Ruler's Council on Feb 22 and 23, 1950, the Federal Legislative Council approved on April 19, 1950 a motion on the design of the Flag of Federation of Malaya.

On May 19, 1950 King George VI gave his consent on the flag's design. The Flag was first hoisted in the Sultan of Selangor's palace grounds on May 26, 1950, witnessed by the Malay Rulers and top British officials. It has since evolved into the Malaysian Flag which was officially hoisted on Sept 16, 1963 to mark the establishment of Malaysia.

DESIGN
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Consists of 14 alternating red and white stripes of equal width, a dark blue canton, yellow cresent and a star.

The canton of dark blue in the upper quarter of the flag sitting on the fifth red stripe represents the unity of the people of Malaysia.

the canton contains a crescent which is the symbol of Islam while the 14-pointed-star symbolises the unity of 13 States of the Federation and the Federal Government.

The yellow in the crescent and star represents the royal colour of the Rulers.

Red and white stripes represent the equal status in the Federation of the 13 States - Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Penang, Perak, Perlis, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor, Terengganu - and the Federal Government.

The national flag was officially named Jalur Gemilang on Aug 31, 1997.


-From The New Straits Times newspaper


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