Flag of Brunei Darussalam

The Brunei Darussalam Flag of yellow, white and black was redesigned to include the red state crest to mark the public declaration of Brunei’s Written Constitution on 29 September 1959. On the same date Brunei achieved internal self-government and the State Flag is now an important symbol for modern, independent Brunei. But the roots of the flag have a much longer history – one which bring together a long Bruneian tradition of personal standards and flags.

Before 1906, Brunei had no single state emblem. Instead, Brunei royal family members and state officials held personal flags and standard. Of these, the most important belonged to the Sultan and Wazir (Viziers – principal state official).

In 1906 the basic bold yellow, white and black flag was adopted as state emblem. The colours were symbolically taken from the traditional standards of the Sultan (yellow) and the two principal Wazir who signed the history agreement (white and black).

Today there are five Wazirs in Brunei and their personal flags can be also seen flying on special occasions. These include that of the principal Wazir, the Duli Pengiran Perdana Wazir (white with the state crest in yellow) and the four further Wazirs; Pengiran Bendahara (white), Pengiran Digadong (green), Pengiran Pemancha (black) and Pengiran Temenggong (red). When the news, updated State Flag was adopted in 1959 all other individual flags and standard were abolished except for personal flags.

The rectangular shaped State flag of four component portion, two parallelograms and two trapeziums - is cut across by a parallelogram from a point 6.35 cm below the top left corner to a point of the same distance from the bottom corner on the right side. The standard measures 82 cm long by 91.4 cm wide.

The parallelogram dividing the rectangle in this manner leaves two similar trapeziums at the top and bottom of the flag, with the lower trapezium assuming the inverted form of the upper trapezium.

The parallelogram is again divided into two parallelograms of unequal depths, the upper being 2.54 cm wider that the lower which is 19.05 cm in width.

The State crest in red superimposes the center of the flag.

The forefingers of the upright arms, which support the red crest, are equidistant at 61 cm from the left and right sides of the flag.

Embodied in the crest in yellow Arabic script is the state motto, which can be roughly translated: Always Render Service by God's Guidance

Four colours are incorporated in the flag, red for the crest, yellow for the trapeziums, white for the upper parallelogram and black for the lower parallelogram.