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Flag of Kelantan

Crescent, star, spears and white daggers on red: the flag of Kelantan joins Islam with the strength of the Malays and loyalty to the sultan.

Flag of Kelantan
Coat of arms
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The flag, in figures

Every fact about the flag, each with what it means.

Proportions
1:22 wide for every 1 high. 49 flags in the catalogue share it.
Properties
Normal flagFIAV symbol: the form of the flag.
Use
Civil and stateFIAV symbol: who may fly the flag.
Adopted
19241924 · 102 years ago
Colours
  • red
  • white
Reference shades: the official one may vary slightly.
Coat of arms
YesIt carries the coat of arms on the cloth.
Origin
Coat of arms of Kelantan
1234

Take a closer look

  1. The red cloth

  2. 1

    The star

  3. 2

    The crescent

  4. 3

    The spears

  5. 4

    The keris

How it is described

The flag in the words of vexillology and heraldry.

Vexillological description

It is a rectangular red field with a 1:2 ratio with a white emblem in the centre.

Field (the cloth)
red, with no stripes or borders.
Crescent
large, opening upwards, on the lower part of the emblem.
Star
five-pointed, in the centre, over the crescent.
Weapons
two vertical spears at the sides of the star and two keris (Malay daggers with a curved blade) crossed above the crescent.
Position
on a flag of 288 × 576 units, the emblem fits in a rectangle of 188 × 232, centred.

What it carries

Each element and how many of the 1,390 flags in the catalogue carry it. In yellow, the rarest.

Its history in dates

Every date in its story, at a glance.

  1. 1909

    Kelantan was a Malay sultanate that came under British protection in 1909

  2. 1912

    Soon after, in 1912, it adopted its first known flag

  3. 1916

    In 1916 Sultan Muhammad IV created a coat of arms with the crescent

  4. 1924

    Eight years later, in 1924, that drawing was put in white onto a red field and the current flag…

  5. 1928

    Between 1928 and 1932 it was drawn with more detail

The full story

How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.

Kelantan is one of the thirteen states of Malaysia, in the northeast of the Malay peninsula. It is ruled by a sultan, and its flag is red with a white emblem: a crescent, a star, two spears and two daggers.

How it came about

Kelantan was a Malay sultanate that came under British protection in 1909. Soon after, in 1912, it adopted its first known flag, very different from today’s. In 1916 Sultan Muhammad IV created a coat of arms with the crescent, the star and the weapons. Eight years later, in 1924, that drawing was put in white onto a red field and the current flag was born.

How it has changed

Kelantan has had two flags in a little over a century.

  1. White flag with a blue border and a blue tiger formed by Arabic letters
    Orange Tuesday · Public domain

    1912-1923

    White with a blue border and a tiger drawn with letters in Jawi script, which carry texts from the Qur’an.

  2. Current flag of Kelantan: red with a crescent, a star, two spears and two white daggers

    1924

    The emblem of the coat of arms, in white on red. Between 1928 and 1932 it was drawn with more detail.

What it means

According to the official explanation collected by FOTW:

  • Red

    the loyalty of the people of Kelantan.

  • White

    the sanctity of the sultan’s office.

  • Crescent and star

    Islam, the religion of the state.

  • Spears and keris

    the strength of the Malays of Kelantan.

Fun facts

  1. A tiger made of letters

    The 1912 flag carried a tiger formed by words in Arabic script, with passages from the Qur’an. It is a kind of calligraphy that draws animals with letters.

  2. A star tied with red threads

    Between 1928 and 1932 the emblem had more detail, and the points of the star were joined to its opposite corners with thin red lines.

  3. The deer that did not make it onto the flag

    The coat of arms of Kelantan has two kijang, small deer of the region, and a crown. They were added later, so the flag kept only the 1916 drawing.

Location

Buy the flag

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How much have you learnt?

Test what you have read about the flag of Kelantan.

  1. 1. Which one is the flag of Kelantan?

  2. 2. Which of these elements appears on the flag?

  3. 3. What are the proportions (height:width) of the flag?

  4. 4. In which year was the current flag adopted?

Sources

Text based on the article “Flag and coat of arms of Kelantan (Wikipedia)” from the Spanish Wikipedia, published under the licence CC BY-SA 4.0.

Sources consulted:

Credits

Flag image: Mysid, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0.

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