andrewyong's VirtualTourist Home Page
| Page Views: 2,662 | Journeys... by andrewyong - last update: Apr 18, 2006 |
| National flag of the Federation of Malaysia |
I, me & myself, hehehe...;-)
THIS MAY SOUND A BIT TOO OFFICIOUS BUT ANYWAY HERE GOES... Like the rest of you, I love traveling and in my opinion, independent traveling is the best! Packaged or guided tours are too rushed and sometimes they left you feeling short changed, knowledge wise, of the people and culture, even the places you might otherwise have visited if you were to go there alone.
I caught the travel bug after visiting Australia for two whole months right after high school. A dry spell took over soon after due to my commitments to studies and the general lack of vitamin "M".
Anyway, I was born in the City of George Town on the island State of Penang, in the north-western corner of Peninsula (or West) Malaysia. You will find more information on my George Town page. Currently, I'm living in London and trying to make the most of my time lazying around here, have some pints with my mates...and having some quality R&R (more like running about getting information on transportation and accommodation) in Europe.
During colonial times, some flowering trees were planted in Penang to bloom in order to coincide with springtime in Europe. There is this one particular tree (the Rose of India I think) that would lose all of its leaves and display its full glory in pink this time of the year that I will put it up for you as soon as I could get a picture of it. Funny how people seem to take it for granted.
The noticeable one would be the yellow sprays of the native Angsana tree which would bloom during northern hemisphere's springtime as well. All this for aesthetic in tropical equatorial Malaysia. The red Flame of the Forest can be found around common greens all year round.
I'm a lawyer by profession, single and available (but not desperate...yet). So, enjoy my jottings as much as I enjoy all of you guys' out there.
You will also find more jottings on our unique system of constitutional monarchy with a Westminster-styled Parliament, the possible inspiration for our national flag (contrary to popular belief), more on Penang, etc in my other pages. I usually do not write too much on the history of the places I visit as you may read about them elsewhere (Lonely Planet Guides???).
True to a lawyer's nature, my qualification is that if you find any of my info herein is incorrect, please tell me so that I can correct them. They may be incomplete till I have found the time to complete them...hahaha!!!
Cheers!
The pictures you see on this page are:-
1-the National flag of the Federation of Malaysia (1963)
2-the flag of the State of Penang (1957/61)
3-bunga raya/hibiscus, Malaysia's national flower (1960)
4-Coat of Arms of the Federation of Malaysia (1963)
5-the flag of the British Crown Colony of Penang & Province Wellesley (1946-1961 or thereabouts)
6-the flag of the British Crown Colonies of the Straits Settlements (1826-1946) (principally Penang, Malacca, Singapore)
I have included here some information which I have obtained from the fotw.net website, describing the flags you will find on this page. You will also find a bit of the history of Malaysia and Penang as you read through my pages...
I am a collector. Hence my interest in vexilology (flags), philately, numismatics, etc. I've gotten a few flags now... I'm also a lover of history and geography so travelling has been my passion come true!
MALAYSIA-Members of the UN, Commonwealth, NAM; a founding member of ASEAN, APEC, WTO, G15, East Asia Summit, amongst others.
George Town's historical centre, Penang, together with Melaka's historical centre, are applying for UNESCO's world heritage site listing. George Town's Historical Enclave is listed as one of the world's 100 most endangered sites on the World Monuments Watch in 2000 and 2002. |
Info from fotw.net (on the flags seen here):
MALAYSIA'S NATIONAL FLAG - JALUR GEMILANG (GLORIOUS STRIPES): Crescent: Islam as the official religion, 14-pointed star and stripes: relationship between the Federation and the 13 States, yellow: royal colour, blue: unity, red & white: traditional colours of the Malay Archipelago/South East Asia e.g. political party flag of UMNO in Malaysia, national flags of Indonesia & Singapore
Document, BT 11/4189, in the Public Record Office at Kew explains some of the thinking behind the design of the Malaysian Flag.
Federation of Malaya Order No.61 of 1949 announced that a committee had been set up to make recommendations for the design of a Federation Flag. A competition was organised with the suggestion that, in any design submitted, the flag should be simple, and have not more than four colours, which might perhaps be yellow, red, white and blue, the colours most frequently used in the flags of the nine states and two settlements of the federation. Suitable symbols would include the kris (a Malayan sword), tiger, and crescent.
A total of 373 entries were received. The committee chose three to put before the Legislative Council.
1. In the centre of a blue flag, two crossed red kris, surrounded by a circle of eleven white five pointed stars. (Crossed kris can be seen behind the anchor on the Malaysian naval ensign). Explanation. Colours; red was found on six state/settlement flags, white on five, and blue on three, and all were colours of the Union Jack. Eleven stars of equal size, equally spaced, represented the states/settlements in no particular order, and each of equal importance. Kris was of great antiquity and peculiar to the Malayan archipelago, thus identifying the flag with Malaya.
2. Similar to (1) but with the stars arranged in two concentric circles, one of six stars, outside one of five stars. Explanation. The same as (1), with the inner circle of stars representing the Unfederated Malay States and the outer circle the four Federated States and two Settlements.
3. Six blue and five white horizontal stripes. A red canton half the length of the flag resting on top of the white stripe second from the bottom. A yellow five point star, oriented with one point in the six o'clock position, in the centre of the canton, and a yellow crescent, arranged like a C, between the star and the hoist. Explanation. One stripe for each state or settlement. Yellow star and crescent represented sultanate monarchies of the states, and the religion of the states. The red field of the canton represented British protection and the complete red, white, blue associated the Federation with the Commonwealth.
The newspaper Malay Mail published the designs and organised a poll. 42 percent favoured (3), 27 percent wanted (3) with kris instead of the crescent and star, and 25 percent wanted a Union Jack included.
On 6 March 1950 the Federal Legislative Council decided that none of the designs were acceptable, and asked for a revised design that would be considered on 19 April. At this meeting the Council approved a revised version of (3) in which, the blue stripes were replaced by red stripes, the red canton was replaced by a blue canton, and the five point star was replaced by an eleven point star.
According to I.O. Evans writing in 1953 [eva57]; Its colours combine the traditional royal hue, gold, of the Sultans of Malaya with the red, white and blue of Britain; the eleven stripes and points on the star indicate that number of states in the Federation; the crescent and star form the traditional Mohammedan emblem.
The company producing the first batch of flags questioned the width of the canton, which was 7 stripes deep, when it could be 6 stripes deep and still more than half the width of the flag. The answer was that the stripes represented the unity of the states and settlements, and it was hoped that Singapore would join the Federation when an additional white stripe would be added to the bottom of the flag. (David Prothero, 2 May 2002) |
| Coat of Arms of the Federation of Malaysia |
The Coat of Arms of Malaysia shows a 14-pointed star which represents the equal status of the 13 states and their unity with the federal government. The Star and the Crescent from the traditional symbols of Islam, the official religion of Malaysia. The five keris represent the former Unfederated Malay States of Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis and Terengganu. The four former Federated Malay States of Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak and Selangor are represented by the four centre panels, the permutations of whose colours represent the colours of these (red, black and yellow for Negeri Sembilan; black and white for Pahang; black, white and yellow for Perak and red and yellow for Selangor). The left-hand division of the shield represents the state of Penang (Pulau Pinang) and the right-hand division, with the Melaka tree, the state of Melaka. The states of Sabah and Sarawak are represented by the left and right sections below respectively while the centre contains the national flower, the bunga raya (hibiscus). The tigers, rampant on either side of the shield are retained from the earlier armorial ensign of the Federation of Malaya (and before that of the Federated Malay States). The yellow colour of the scroll containing the Motto in Roman and Jawi script is the royal colour of the Rulers. Source: The Information Malaysia Yearbook, 1996. |
| Flag of the State of Penang |
STATE FLAG OF PENANG: Penang has the only vertically divided flag in Malaysia: (light) blue - white - yellow with a palm tree in the middle. (Jaume Oll?, 14 January 1996)
The flag is a tricolour consisting of vertical stripes of equal width of light blue (at the hoist), white and yellow; on the central (white) stripe is an areca nut palm (known in Malay as pokok pinang) on a mount. Light blue signifies the sea which surrounds the island. The white represents the State itself in its serenity. The yellow signifies prosperity. The betelnut (or areca nut) tree is the tree from which the island takes its name. There is no sultan of this state as it was once a component part of the British Straits Settlements. (Tom W. Koh, 14 May 1997)
The tree in the middle of the flag is the pinang tree which is the state tree of Penang. The Malay word for Penang is Pulau Pinang or Pinang Island. (Giuseppe Bottasini, 13 August 1997) |
Hibiscus rosa sinensis - Malaysia's national flower
Also known as Rose of China as its latin name suggests, this tropical flower greets you with almost a fresh bloom everyday. It is, as well as many other of its hybrids are, also the national flower of many countries and twerritories such as Hawaii.
KL has a huge Hibiscus Gardens at the Lake Gardens behind the main railway station. check it out! |
| Flag of the Colony of Penang & Province Wellesley |
FLAG OF THE COLONY OF PENANG & PROVINCE WELLESLEY (1946-1957/61):
With the Union flag in the canton and local badge in the fly; the appearance of the white disc is suspect, must check a copy at the Penang Museum...
NB: There was an earlier clolonial flag with the Union flag in the canton (top left quarter) for Penang and Province Wellesley, which was used for first time (1865-67) with a local badge with seal (inscription around: Penang and Province Wellesley) in the fly (the right half of the flag) in blue ensign. The flag of the Straits Settlements was used after 1867. |
| Flag of the Straits Settlements |
FLAG OF THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS (1826-1946): The imperial crowns, which replaced the earlier squarish Victorian crowns in about 1904, were in full colour, mainly gold and red, but also green, blue and shades of grey if you have all the detailing. Early versions of the ensign tended to have the badge in the lower fly, but the correct position is in the centre of the fly, the length of the horizontal axis of the lozenge being five sixteenths of the length of the whole flag. (David Prothero, 6 June 1998)
To be precise, the flag of Straits Settlements, established 1826, was the Union Flag. The "three crowns on a lozenge" badge that was used on the Union Flag of the Governor when afloat, and the Blue Ensign of government vessels appeared on a printed sheet of colonial badges, produced by the Admiralty, that was being circulated in 1874 (Source: Public Record Office, Kew, CO 323/318). However a drawing in the Colonial Office Record Book shows a Blue Ensign with one gold crown in the lower fly. It is dated 1877 and has the note, "Governor informed that above badge should not have been changed without authorisation and must still be considered the badge of the colony." (Source: Public Record Office, Kew, CO 325/54). I am not sure but it is likely that each of the three original settlements had its own seal and that there was therefore no obvious badge to represent the whole colony. The Colonial Office seem to have assumed that a crown would be used as the badge until a suitable one had been selected and approved, but that the governor went ahead and devised a badge without approval. The same problem arose in West African Settlements, but in that case the seal of one settlement, was adopted as the badge for the combined settlements. The badge appeared in an official document in 1874, was modified in 1904 when the Tudor crowns replaced the Victorian style crowns, and discontinued in 1942. (David Prothero, 28 March 2001) |
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 Comments for andrewyong | | | | |
irishgalmtl Sat Nov 11, 2006 16:25 UTC
Greetings from Montreal, Wishing you blessings on your special day, spend it well with lots of cheer, with freinds and family that care, for there will not be another for a year. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! CHEERS!...Donna :) | CandS Sat Jan 22, 2005 02:45 UTC
Hi Andrew! You've done a lot of travelling so far! Lucky you! :) Greetings from Wagga Wagga in Australia... | Suzanne123 Sun Jan 9, 2005 19:01 UTC
Hi Andrew, nice to meet you. Did the big Tidal Wave reach you in George Town? |
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