bobjots : redux

The current flag of Malaysia was first raised in September 16, 1963 to replace the previous flag of the Federation of Malaya which was almost identical to the current flag except for the number of stripes (11 from the current 14) and points in the Federation Star (11 from the current 14). This variation was made as 3 new states; North Borneo (Sabah), Sarawak, and Singapore; joined the Federation and the country was renamed Malaysia.

As history tells us, Singapore later seceded (or was expelled, depending on which side of the Causeway you’re reading your history from) from the Federation in 1965 and the 14th point and stripe was re-interpreted to represent the Federal Territories.

What we probably know less about is that the familiar flag that we commonly see (and technically abuse and misuse if we were to take flag protocol seriously – see this government circular and this guide from the Malaysian Girl Guides movement), was originally raised in May 26, 1950 after receiving the royal assent from King George VI a week earlier. Why King George VI? I reckon it was because he was the legal sovereign of Malaya then (we were a British protectorate then, remember?).

The flag was chosen as a result of a competition organised by a committee set up under the Federation of Malaya Order No.61 of 1949 to make recommendations for the design of a Federation Flag. Prior to that, the semi-official flag that was used for the Federation was the old Federated Malay States flag together with the Union Jack.

Interestingly, the flag that was used to represent Malaya in the 1950 British Empire Games in New Zealand (precursor to the present day Commonwealth Games) was just the Union Flag of the United Kingdom defaced with the word Malaya.

Flag of Malaya in the 1950 British Empire Games

And prior to the adoption of the new Federation flag in 1950, the more popularly used flag to represent Malaya by nationalists was actually a red and white bicolour emblazoned by 12 stars (representing the states of Malaya including Singapore) known as the People’s Flag (adopted in 1947 by the AMCJA-PUTERA campaign against the continued British domination of Malaya using the Federation of Malaya Agreement of 1948).

The nationalist AMCJA/PUTERA People’s Flag of Malaya

Anyway, back to the flag competition ..

373 entries were eventually received for the competition and 4 designs were eventually shortlisted and presented to the Federal Legislative Council for a decision. They were:

Flag Proposal 1

Flag Proposal 2

Flag Proposal 3

Flag Proposal 4

As we know, none of the above was eventually adopted. Instead the Federation Legislative Council asked the committee to revise Flag Proposal 3 to come out with what became the familiar 11 striped version of the flag. The major difference was that the predominance of the colour blue (which was meant to symbolise the fraternal relationship between Malaya and the Commonwealth) was replaced by the colour red and the five-pointed star was modified into  the eleven-pointed Federation Star:

Federation Flag (1950 – 1963)

Conventional wisdom and critiques would say that the flag adopted is a rip off of the American Stars and Stripes. I don’t think that’s unfair. The designs were, after all, presented to the public for a vote and the design that garnered the most votes (42% of the total votes) was Flag Proposal 3 above. This was also very early in the post-World War 2 period when American prestige was probably at its highest worldwide. So the preference by the public was not unexpected.

However, if you’ll indulge me a little, I have my own romanticised idea about what eventually inspired the Malayan flag, similarities to the American Stars and Stripes notwithstanding.

One of the last archipelago wide Malay kingdoms was the Majapahit kingdom that controlled the trade routes of the Malay archipelago from 1298 onwards. The kingdom superceded and eventually took over from the waning Srivijaya kingdom (7th – 13th century) and was itself waning when the Malaccan kingdom (1400 – 1511) was established by a descendent of the Srivijayan dynasty in the Malay peninsular to dominate the Straits of Malacca.

Nonetheless, the cultural heritage of Majapahit remained influential in the region and interestingly the Majapahit kings, Malaccan sultans as well as the Demak and Mataram sultans that superceded Majapahit in Java claimed descent from the Srivijayan dynasty, perhaps as an effort to legitimise their rule over their respective domains.

Now here is where it perhaps gets a bit interesting. One of the most prominent features of the Malayan / Malaysian flag are the alternating red and white stripes. Have you also ever wondered why the flags of Indonesia and Singapore also features red and white stripes so prominently?

The image below is the war banner of the Majapahit kingdom and was also flown on Majapahit owned vessels:

Banner of the Majapahit Kingdom

The following image is a device known as the Surya Majapahit or Majapahit Sun. It is commonly found in Majapahit ruins and artifacts and probably acted as the symbol of sovereignty of the Majapahit kings, perhaps similar in function of a nation’s coat of arms today.

Surya Majapahit

Now compare the two images above with the flag that was eventually adopted for Malaya:

See a connection?

Ok .. I must admit that this is purely speculative on my part and I have no documentary or anecdotal evidence that the Malayan flag was in any way influenced by Majapahit symbols. But you must admit, this speculative theory is definitely much less boring than the conventional “we stole the flag from the Americans” angle .. even if the latter is probably much more accurate and factual.

Heh .. here’s to my country, Malaysia. May she continue to prosper and grant that her children continue to be free, living in peace that is undergirded in justice and mercy.

Note:
I am aware that there is currently a silly dispute between some Indonesians and Malaysians about who owns certain cultural symbols. In some occasions, it has degenerated to some level of violence. I am not interested in adding fuel to this fire but am perhaps just attempting to highlight how much cultural cross-pollination takes place in regions like the Nusantara which is essentially the cultural as well as geographical crossroad of East and South Asia.

And if we consider the fact that much of modern Malaysia as well as modern Indonesia and modern Singapore were actually politically as well as culturally connected not too long ago, do we really need to be so anal about Rasa Sayang, Keroncong, and the Gamelan?

Imagine if China copyrighted paper and the UK copyrighted the steam engine. We’d all be pretty screwed eh?