In the spirit of Asian Games 2018, the most touching moment is when the national flags are raised and the national anthem is played as the athletes win. By discovering the meanings of the national flags of Southeast Asian countries, we hope that next time, you not only encounter another round of touching moments at the Asian Games but also become aware of history of Southeast Asian countries through their flags.
Brunei
Brunei’s national emblem is placed at the central part of the flag. Even though it was adopted in 1959, the flag gained its official status of national flag in 1984 during its independence. The flag of Brunei is predominated by yellow that depicts generosity and the white epitomizes peace.
Cambodia
Three horizontal stripes are the most remarkable sign of the Cambodian flag. The flag is framed with two blue stripes in the same size that represent royalty, cooperation, and unity while the red color positioned in the center in represents bravery of the nation. It is also easy to spot the three-towered temple of Angkor Wat in the red part of the flag as the sign of spiritual and cultural belief of Cambodia. Both red and blue colors have been said as the pivotal elements during Cambodia’s Khmer Empire.
East Timor
East Timor is the youngest country in the region, with its flag itself was adopted during the independence, 20th of May 2002. East Timor has the red color dominated the flag that symbolizes the struggle of liberalization, the black stands for lengthy colonial repression experienced by the country, yellow means its prior colonial history, and white star is symbolic of peace.
Laos
The flag of Laos was officially adopted on the 2nd of December 1975. Similar to Cambodian flag, it dominates with blue and red colors but in reversed order. One thing one may effortlessly notice is the white circle located in the middle of the flag that in fact epitomizes the moon over the Mekong River. The red colors in the top and bottom frame of the flag celebrates the bravery and bloodshed the national struggle in gaining their freedom, while the blue color symbolizes prosperity.
Indonesia
Widely known amongst Indonesians as “Sang Saka Merah Putih” (translated as The Lofty Red-and-White), the flag of Indonesia was adopted on August 17 1945. Similar to the flags of Poland and Monaco, the red color depicts the bravery and human blood in struggling to achieve the independence and white color reflects the human spirit. The combination of these colors is based on Majapahit Empire in the 13th Century that consisted of nine red and white horizontal stripes.
Malaysia
If Laos goes for the full moon shining symbol right in the center of the flag, the flag of Malaysia has crescent in the top left part that symbolizes the country’s religion, namely Islam. Its dark blue color stands for unity of the peoples and the rest of the flag is dominated with fourteen red and white stripes that personify 14 Malaysian states (The Federal Territories, Malacca, Johor, Penang, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Kelantan, Perlis, Perak, Terengganu, Kedah, Pahang, Sabah, and Sarawak).
Myanmar
The unity of a country oftentimes is represented in its flag by blue color. However, the flag of Myanmar applies it differently. The white star in the middle of the flag was chosen to represent the unity of the peoples, instead of choosing the blue color. The flag also has the yellow stripe that stands for solidarity, while green and red symbolize peace and courage respectively. The national flag of Myanmar itself was firstly adopted on the 21st of October 2010.
Thailand
The beautiful combination of three colors of the national flag of Thailand is derived from the story of King Vajiravudh where he was once inspired to create a symmetrical flag as he avoided the flag to be seen differently when it was hung upside-down during a disaster. Similar to the flags of other countries, the red represents bravery and bloodshed of the nation, the blue indicates the Thai monarchy, while white color stands for purity and the country’s religion which is Buddhism.
The Philippines
The Philippines national flag is probably the second-most detailed flag among Southeast Asian countries after Brunei’s and it has a deep meaning behind its history. If compared to Cuban’s, one can handily notice the similarity between these flags. The story began when Cuba initiated an independence movement and it somehow evoked the spirit of the Filipino revolutionaries. While Cuba has one star in its flag, the Philippines owns eight-rayed sun that symbolizes eight provinces in the Philippines and three stars at the hoist section to represent three main islands in the country.
Vietnam
The Vietnamese flag was legally adopted on 30th of November 1955. It has a yellow star that marks the central point to epitomize the categories of five workers in the socialism structures: youths and workers, soldiers, farmers, and highbrows; with the yellow color to personify Vietnamese people. The flag was originally used in the period of insurrection against French rule in 1940.
Singapore
Here comes the flag that was adopted in 1959 when the British granted Singapore a full internal self-government. The flag can be seen as if it combines the Indonesian and Malaysian flags. The flag of Singapore has equal horizontal sections colored red and white like Indonesia’s, with the red stands for brotherhood and white represents purity. Similar to the Malaysia national flag, it has a crescent moon that serves as the symbol of the status of the country as the young and growing nation. There are five white stars arranged in a circle next to the moon to depict democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality.