Behind the familiar stripes, crescent and star lies the story of a young architect and a design that grew with Malaysia.
BEFORE it was known as the Jalur Gemilang, Malaysia’s national flag spent four decades simply being called the Federal Flag or Bendera Malaysia.
Its familiar stripes, crescent and star date back to 1949, when the Federation of Malaya launched a competition to find a new national flag following the end of the Malayan Union.
The contest attracted 373 entries, with three designs eventually shortlisted.
Mohamed Hamzah, a young architect with the Johor Public Works Department, submitted the winning design.
His original design featured 11 alternating blue-and-white stripes and a red canton containing a yellow crescent and five-pointed star.
The design was later refined following recommendations from the Conference of Rulers and the Federal Legislative Council.
The stripes were changed to red and white, while the canton became dark blue to symbolise unity.
The crescent and star were changed from white to yellow, reflecting the colour associated with royalty, while the star was expanded to 11 points representing the states within the Federation.
The final design was approved in February 1950 before being formally adopted by the Federal Legislative Council on April 19 that year.
The flag was officially raised for the first time on May 26, 1950, at the palace of the Sultan of Selangor.
Seven years later, at the stroke of midnight on Aug 31, 1957, it took centre stage at Padang Kelab Selangor, now Dataran Merdeka, as the Union Jack was lowered and the new flag rose to cries of “Merdeka!”.
When Malaysia was formed on Sept 16, 1963, the flag was modified again.
Three stripes were added and the star became 14-pointed to represent the expanded federation comprising Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore.
Although Singapore left Malaysia in 1965, the design was retained.
The 14th stripe and star point subsequently came to represent the Federal Government and the Federal Territories.
Despite further changes to Malaysia’s federal territories, the flag’s core design has remained intact.
Its colours and symbols carry distinct meanings – red represents bravery, white purity, blue unity and yellow royal sovereignty, while the crescent represents Islam and the star Malaysian unity.
Yet, for the first 40 years of independence, the flag had no name that captured the imagination of Malaysians.
That changed on the eve of Aug 31, 1997, when then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad officially named the national flag Jalur Gemilang at 11.58pm at Dataran Merdeka.
The name was selected from three shortlisted proposals: Jalur Gemilang, Jalur Nusa Gemilang and Jalur Sinar Gemilang.
The idea of giving the national flag an official name was mooted by Datuk Hashim Mat Idris, who proposed it to Dr Mahathir in 1995.
Yet the man behind the design remained largely unknown for decades.
Mohamed Hamzah, who was born in Singapore in 1918 and raised in Johor Bahru, continued working as a government architect after his winning design was selected.
For much of his life, he said little about his contribution. It was only after his death in 1993 that his family’s account brought his role to public attention.
Today, the Jalur Gemilang is a familiar sight over homes, streets, schools and public buildings every National Day.
Yet behind the familiar stripes and crescent lies a story of a young architect whose quiet contribution became part of the nation’s own journey.
