Flag of Johor.html



The flag and the coat of arms of Johor are state symbols of Johor, Malaysia. Like other states of Malaysia with Malay royalties, the state symbols of Johor are influenced by Johor's royalties, as well as Islam and the political and natural features of the state.

Flag

The flag of Johor. Flag ratio 1:2.

Johor's state flag bears a canton pattern, a predominantly navy blue design with a bright red field on the upper left canton (quarter), which contains a white crescent and a white five-pointed star.¹ Running slightly less than half the length of the flag, the field unconventionally occupies roughly three fifths of the flag's hoist. In addition, the crescent is not aligned upright, tilting to the right towards the lower fly end and wrapping slightly around the star, which is positioned towards the lower right corner of the field.¹

The flag in general attempts to illustrate an Johor in a nutshell. The navy blue, which occupies roughly three quarters of the flag, represents the universe,¹ or the state government.² The red represents the warriors that defend the state, while the white crescent and white star denote Islam and Johor's sovereign ruler, respectively.²¹

Variants

The vast majority of flags in use or formerly used by officials and government branches in the state borrow elements of the state flag, some of which are merely recolours. With the introduction of a unified state flag, many of them became obsolete, with the exception of the Royal Standards.

Standards

A series of Royal Standards are flown by the Sultan of Johor and his family, which lower-ranking members are assigned specific Standards. In addition, standards were also adopted for traditional high ranking officials, including the bendahara, the Temenggung and the Sultan's Marshall.³¹

The Standards are typically plain flags with a star (of varying numbers of points) and crescent, with truncating triangles placed on each corner of the flag; only the Standards of the Sultan and the Crown Prince are depicted without the truncations. In addition, each flag, with the exception of the Sultan's Marshall, are coloured in only two colours, including white, blue, red and yellow. The number of points on the star also determines the rank of the Standard holder: The Sultan's Standard depicts a nine-pointed star, while the Standard for other members of the royal family depicts a five-pointed star.

The series of Standards include:³

• the Standard of the Sultan: A white flag with a blue nine-pointed star and crescent;
• the Standard of the Sultaness: A blue flag with a white seven-pointed star and crescent and four white triangles on each corner;
• the Standard of the Crown Prince: A white flag with a red seven-pointed star and crescent;
• the Standard of the Bendahara: A white flag with a red five-pointed star and crescent and four red triangles on each corner;
• the Standard of the Temenggong: Yellow flag with blue five-pointed star and crescent and four blue triangles on each corner;
• the Standard of the Sultan's Marshall: Black field with red canton containing a five-pointed white star and crescent, similar to the civil flag and ensign, but features a swallowtail that extends close to canton; and
• the Standard for other members of the royal family: A yellow flag with a blue five-pointed star and crescent.

Flags of state officials

As of 1939, flags were flown by numerous state officials in Johore, including the governing heads of state or district. The vast majority of flag consist of only a plain coloured flag with a five-pointed star and crescent similar to that from the state flag, with some divided diagonally a la party per bend. They include:⁴

• the flag of the Regent of Johore: A yellow-blue per bend divided flag with a red eight-pointed star and crescent in the centre;
• the flag of the Prime Minister of Johore: A blue flag with a white five-pointed star and crescent in the centre;
• the flag of the State Commissioner for Muar: An orthogonally quartered flag with the first quarter coloured red with a white five-pointed star and crescent, the second and third quarters coloured black, and the fourth quarter coloured yellow with a red five-pointed star and crescent;
• the flag of the State Commissioner for Batu Pahat: A red-black per bend divided flag with a white five-pointed star and crescent in the centre; and
• the flag of the State Commissioner for Segamat: A red-white per bend divided flag with a yellow five-pointed star and crescent in the centre.

Maritime flags

Ships operated by Johore state flew their own maritime flags for identification. Largely similar to the state flag, the flags are typically recolours of the state flag that displays a combination of three colours out of four: Black, red, white and blue. They include:⁵

• the civil flag and ensign: A black flag with a red canton containing a white five-pointed star and crescent;
• the war ensign: A white flag with blue canton containing a red five-pointed star and crescent;
• the jack: A blue flag with white border and central red five-pointed star and crescent; and
• the District Authorities' ensign: A black flag with red canton containing a white five-pointed star and crescent, and a red lozenge containing a smaller white five-pointed star and crescent on the lower fly.

In addition, pennants were known to be flown, illustrated as a triangular flag containing the same five pointed star and crescent. The "State Officials' Pennant" was coloured blue with a white star and crescent, while another variant of unknown use was coloured yellow with a blue star and crescent.⁵

Other variants

Johore's police force was also known to fly its own flag, essentially similar in design as the flag of Johore, but with a different combination of colours: A red field with a black canton containing a white five-pointed star and crescent.⁶

A ceremonial state flag was also flown, consisting of red flag with a white five-pointed star and crescent, an inner yellow border and an outer blue border.¹

Obselete state flag

The Johorean flag is known to date back as early as the 1850s, when a flag that consisted of a simple black flag with a white canton shaped as a square was flown by the Sultanate between 1855 and 1865. The design was also adopted by Trumong, in present day Indonesia.⁷¹

Coat of arms

Johor's coat of arms (Malay: Jata Johor) derives its layout heavily from Western heraldry, consisting of a central shield topped by a helm, sided by two supporters, and includes a compartment and motto at the bottom. Details of the arms' elements are as followed:

The state arms of Johor.

Helm

The helm represents Johor's royalty, and is symbolised by a blue and yellow coronet adorned with motives of a five-pointed star and a crescent.⁸

Escutcheon

The arms' escutcheon consists of a white shield of an "English" outline with a central five-pointed star and crescent, and four smaller five-pointed stars at each corner of the shield; both the stars and the crescent are coloured in yellow. The larger star and crescent symbolise the Islamic faith, while the four stars represent the four original territories of modern Johor: Johor Bahru, Muar, Batu Pahat and Endau.⁸

Supporters

The arms features two supporters depicted by rampant tigers, as a sign of recognition to the ferocious animals that once roamed the state of Johor.⁸

Compartment and motto

The area below the shield include of a group of yellow, mirrored flora (compartment) hanging a blue scroll (motto). The compartment represents gambir and black pepper, crops cultivated by Johor's traditional agricultural industry.⁸ The scroll, with text written in Jawi, reads Kepada Allah Berserah (Submit to Allah).

References