Sabah (Malaysia)

Negeri Sabah "di Bawah Bayu", State of Sabah "Land beneath the Wind", former (British) North Borneo

Last modified: 2000-01-28 by santiago dotor
Keywords: sabah | malaysia | borneo | labuan | canton | mountain: kinabalu | ship | sun | sea | lion | disc | coat of arms | blue: 3 shades | czech-like flag |
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by Jan Oskar Engene

• Description
• Historical Flags
  • British North Borneo (up to 1963)
  • Flag 1963-1981
  • Flag 1982-1988
• Political Parties (Sabah)

See also:

• Federal Territory of Labuan
• Malaysia
• British Straits Settlements

Other sites:

• Historical Coats-of-Arms and Flags (Sabah Official Website)

This flag was adopted on 16 September 1988. It is red, white and three different shades of blue. The mountain is in the canton as in the 1963 flag, but now in dark blue on a light blue background. The field is medium blue over white over red. I have attempted a GIF image (attached), but I am not sure it is correct in all details.

Jan Oskar Engene, 11 April 1996

The mountain on the flag (and coat-of-arms) is Mount Kinabalu (4101 m).

Herman De Wael, 6 April 1997

The Malaysian state of Sabah has not least than three different official shades of blue on its flag. I read the official description found in the Second Schedule (Article 42A) of the Constitution of the State of Sabah (article inserted with the Enactment to amend the Constitution of the State of Sabah n°12 of 1988):

The state Flag is in a rectangular shape and is in the proportion of 1:2. The canton which extends at the head half way to the fly and 2/3 at the hoist to the foot is in Icicle Blue (CIT9) as the background to a graphic silhouette of Mount Kinabala which is in Royal Blue (B10) positioned ar 1/4 of the height of the canton from end to end). The fly of the flag is divided equally into three bands of colours the foot division of which extends right to the hoist. The top band is in Zircon Blue (C5T5) the second band is in white and the third band is in Chilli Red (S6R4).

In this flag, Zircon Blue symbolises peace and tranquility, White symbolizes purity and justice, Chilli Red symbolizes courage and conviction, Icicle Blue symbolises unity and prosperity and Royal Blue symbolizes strength and co-operation.

The five colours of the flag represent the five Divisions in the State. The silhouette shape of Mount Kinabala symbolizes the State of Sabah.

Pascal Vagnat, 7 May 1999

A nice overview of historical Sabah flags and crests. No spectacular differences with FOTW though, apart from the crests [coats-of-arms] which are absent at FOTW.

Jarig Bakker, 18 May 1999

Roughly speaking, Sabah was previously known as (British) North Borneo (Company). [Blue ensign], lion on a yellow disc until 1948 when the badge was changed to the crest from the coat-of-arms (granted 13 September 1948), which (according to Gresham Carr 1953) was displayed on a white disc, presumably until 1963.

David Prothero, 6 March 1999

by Zeljko Heimer

On August 31st 1963 Sabah adopted a four striped flag, red over white over yellow over blue, and a green canton with a brown mountain.

Zeljko Heimer, 6 April 1996

by Mark Sensen

In Vexilla Nostra no. 166 I found that in between the 1963 flag and the 1988 (current) flag another flag was used, adopted January 1st 1982. It was a completely different design: blue over white with a red triangle on the hoist. It looked very much like the flag used by Sarawak (the other Malaysian state on Borneo) until August 31st 1988, which was red over white with a blue triangle on the hoist.

Mark Sensen, 24 April 1996