Jalur Gemilang Photo

Photographer’s Note

The flag of Malaysia was adopted on September 16, 1963. It is an interesting combination of a flag inspired by that of the United States with the crescent and star, a traditional symbol of Islam. Malaysia's flag is similar to that of the United States in that it has a blue field, along with stars and stripes. On the Malaysian flag, there are 14 stripes that stand for the thirteen states and one for the Federal Territories of Malaysia, likewise the star has fourteen points for the same reason. (See also Malaysia's Federal star.) Other sources say that the number of stripes is for the thirteen states of Malaysia plus one for Singapore, which at the Federation's inception was a part of Malaysia. The blue field symbolizes the unity of the Malaysian people, and the yellow seen on the crescent and star is the color of the royal family.

31 August 1997, the Malaysian flag was given a name Jalur Gemilang - Glorious Stripes by then Prime Minister Dato' Seri (Now Tun) Mahathir bin Mohammad.

The Malaysian flag was designed by Mohamed Hamzah, a 29 year old architect working in Public Works Deparment (JKR) in Johor Bahru, Johor.

He entered a flag design competition in 1947 with two designs which he completed within two weeks. The first design was a green flag with blue kris in the middle, surrounded by 15 white stars. The second design which was accepted to the final three was similar to the current flag but with a 5 sided star. The flag design competition attracted 373 entries and voting were made by the general public via post.

Dato' Onn Jaafar met with Mohamed Hamzah after he won the competition and suggested the star is changed to an 11 sided star to reflect the Federated Malay States and the 3 Straits Settlements. Mohamed Hamzah died just shy of his 75th birthday on 13 February 1993 in Jalan Stulang Baru, Kampung Melayu Majidee, Johor.

The Malaysian flag was approved by King George VI on 19 May 1950 and was first raised in front of Istana Selangor on 26 May 1950.

The design of horizontal lines with alternating red and white bands shared with only two other countries in the word; United States of America and Liberia.

From Wikipedia
*Scanned Image*
Image took in the small island of Kapas, on the east coast of continental Malaysia.

red45, barrufeto_77, andante, jinju, everlasting, sebinho342, Jribeirosantos, kclai, capthaddock, veronika, Ramy, Magritte has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

gaby (19791) 2006-04-26 3:47

Paolo bonjour - encore une fois splendide et superbement composée - c'est grand - j'adore tes mariages de couleurs, tu aurais du être peintre (mais alors peut être nous n'aurions pas eu la chance de t'avoir sur TE)
Merci et bonne journée
Gaby

greg64g (11193) 2006-04-26 3:50

hello Paolo

superb this use of Flag, and the Malaysian flag is nice to my taste, tje environnement is perfect.
ciao
greg

red45 (1627) 2006-04-26 4:40

Hi Paolo!
Simply flag and very complicated story behind it :-) Malaysian flag copied from US one? World is strange :-) Nice photo, but I think sea and sky are better than flags :-)

barrufeto_77 (24437) 2006-04-26 4:41

Hi Paolo.

A really pity that the image was scanned because all (composition, colours, sharpness...) is perfect.

The note is also good.

Rgs, Oscar

cessy (13623) 2006-04-26 5:01

Hi Paolo
very nice capture of the flag with wonderful beach on the background
interesting choice of composition with the flag filling most of the frame, but I like it

Gerrit (33056) 2006-04-26 6:28

Hi Paolo,
thecombination with the background works very well.
Thanks and regards, Gerrit

andante (7092) 2006-04-26 7:16

Paolo, love the way you have composed this image to show the symbol of a country on its own element. This image says so much about Indonesia at a glance. Excellent job!

Ciao,
Enrique

sebinho342 (18341) 2006-04-26 8:47

Hi Paolo, excellent note that let us the origin of this malaysian flag ... quite near of USA's one and a muslim inspiration too for crescent.
And of course you bring you touch to give this picture a good warm atmosphere, quite yellow and green, that emphezise the background.
It's a pleasure :)
I was wondering if there were some flags posted here and i have my answer :)

feather (46253) 2006-04-26 10:19

Interesting and unusual composition from you today Paolo. The flagpole is pointing the way to the scene beyond. Well done
Kath

fabio_ts (13670) 2006-04-26 10:43

Una foto graficamente riuscitissima, ed accompagnata da note interessanti.. i colori sono accesi e potenti, e la composizione non fa una grinza.. BRAVO!!

buona serata,
Fabio.

Jribeirosantos (1908) 2006-04-26 11:34

Excelent compo Paolo!!

Superb catch! Along with some history!

Congratulations!

Joana

eleparc (24059) 2006-04-26 12:36

Ciao Paolo,

mi piacce questo tipo di foto! belle colore verde del mare

Eric ( secco)

lestans (14542) 2006-04-26 12:48

Interessante questa bandiera simil-americana. E poi mi piace in questo caso il risultato dello scanner, i colori azzurri-verdini del mare sono belli e verosimili
Ciao!!

Livia

kclai (2263) 2006-04-26 21:18

Hey Paolo
It's nice to see the Jalur Gemilang been well known across the globe. Yeah, our PM will be very happy about it.
A good shot with a simple motive that makes TE the point of learning the world through photography.
Cheers and good day.
Eric Lai

jinju (14259) 2006-04-27 4:31

Hi Paolo,

thats an informative note. I always wandered why the Malaysian flag is so similar to the American. What a strange situation as the US is seen as a sort of enemy by many Muslim nations. This shot is quite nice. It has your characteristics with the added, and strange element of the flag.

capthaddock (28640) 2006-04-27 10:19

Hi Paolo - another appetising tropical beach shot, the flag makes a very appealing contrast with the jade water. I wish the entire flag was visible, but I know it's difficult with a moving object.

veronika (6018) 2006-04-29 5:44

Great one Paolo, finally i know something about Malaysian flag, your note kept me reading, very interesting! well planned and captured! Bravo :)
Ciao
Vero

Vato_Law (11488) 2006-04-29 14:13

Hello Paolo,
nce composition, you've captured well the flag riding on the wind. goods colours textures and nice pov.
well done.
Paulo

Magritte (418) 2007-05-17 12:40

Bonjour Paolo,
J'ai choisi de commenter celle-ci parmi toute votre galerie car je porte un attachement tout particulier à la Malaysie. Elle est très réussie, les couleurs notamment sont superbes...et ce drapeau, fièrement accroché à un simple bout de bois!
Merci pour le partage ( and sorry to write in french, my english is so bad!)