Country profile: Malaysia

The Malaysian flag came out of a competition held in 1949 in the Federation of Malaya. The winning design, by the architect Mohamed Hamzah, was adopted on 26 May 1950; it then had eleven stripes, one for each member state of the federation.

When Malaysia was formed on 16 September 1963, with Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak, the number of stripes and of points on the star rose to fourteen. After Singapore left in 1965, this number was kept.

On 31 August 1997, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad named it Jalur Gemilang, ‘Stripes of Glory’.

The elements of the Malaysian flag have an official meaning:

• Fourteen red and white stripes: the equal status of the members of the federation, now the thirteen states and the federal government.
• Blue: the unity of the Malaysian people.
• Yellow: the royal colour of the Malay rulers.
• Crescent: Islam, the official religion of the federation.
• Fourteen-pointed star: the unity of the states of the federation.

The Malaysian flag is often compared with that of the United States, from which it takes the red and white stripes and the blue canton, but with a yellow crescent and star.

Every year in August, in the run-up to the national day on 31 August, Malaysians fly the Jalur Gemilang in huge numbers from homes, offices and cars.

The flag of Liberia, also inspired by the American Stars and Stripes, resembles the Malaysian flag with its red and white stripes and its blue canton.