Singapore

Singapore
Adopted	December 3, 1959
Proportions	2:3

The flag of Singapore is an equal horizontal bicolour of red and white. In the canton, there is a white crescent and five stars facing the fly, the stars in a circle, each 72° from each other.

Symbolism

The red colour symbolises universal brotherhood and equality of man. The white colour signifies pervading and everlasting purity and virtue. The crescent moon represents a young nation on the ascendant, and the 5 stars stand for the nation's ideals of democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality.

History

Singapore was under British rule in the 19th century, having been amalgamated into the Straits Settlements together with Malacca and Penang. The flag that was used to represent the Settlements was a British Blue Ensign containing three gold crowns—one for each settlement—separated by a red inverted pall, which resembles an inverted Y.

The Settlement of Singapore had no separate flag, although the city was granted a coat of arms which featured a lion in 1911. During the occupation of Singapore by the Japanese during the Second World War, the Japanese national flag was used on land by the military and during public events. Soon after the Second World War, Singapore became an independent Crown colony and adopted its own flag. It was modified from the Straits Settlements flag to reduce the number of crowns from three to one.

Singapore became self-governing within the British Empire on 3 June 1959. Six months later, upon the installation of the new Yang di-Pertuan Negara (head of state) on 3 December 1959, the national flag was officially adopted, along with the state coat of arms and the national anthem Majulah Singapura ("Onward Singapore").^[6] Then-Deputy Prime Minister Toh Chin Chye discussed the creation of the national flag in a 1989 interview:

The design of the flag was completed in two months by a committee headed by Toh. He initially wanted the flag's entire background to be red, but the Cabinet decided against this, as red was regarded as a rallying point for communism. According to an account given by Lee Kuan Yew, the Chinese population wanted five stars, which were modeled off the flag of the People's Republic of China and the Muslim population wanted a crescent moon. Both of these symbols were combined to create the national flag of Singapore.

In September 1962, the people of Singapore voted to join the Federation of Malaysia. The process was completed on 16 September 1963, when the Malaysian flag was hoisted on Singapore by Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. The Singapore flag was reconfirmed as the national flag when Singapore became fully independent from Malaysia on 9 August 1965.