The flag and coat of arms of Kedah are the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

symbol A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...

s of

Kedah Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman (Islam), Aman and historically as Queda, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. Very little distinction is present between the flag and coat of arms of the state, as the flag consists of only a red field with the state arms on the upper hoist.

Flag

The Kedahan flag is essentially a red flag with only the state arms of Kedah charged on its upper hoist, the upper left quarter of the flag. The red, Kedah's traditional colour, signifies prosperity, while the flag's arms is as interpreted with the standalone arms.

History

During the beginning of the 18th century, Kedah's flag only consists of a plain red field. In 1821, the flag was changed to be charged with a yellow tiger. This flag came to be known as the "''harimau terkam''" (pouncing tiger) or "''harimau melompat''" (jumping tiger) flag. The flag was used during

Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin Halim Shah II Paduka Sri Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin Halim Shah II ibni al-Marhum Sultan Abdullah Mukarram Shah (died 3 January 1845) was the 22nd Sultan of Kedah. His reign was from 1803 to 1821 and 1842 to 1845. He was appointed as Heir Apparent (''Uparaja'') by t ...

's reign, and was raised on top of the Kota Kedah before the Siam capture of the fort and occupation of the sultanate during which they took down the flag. The flag went on being used by the Sultan's troops while recapturing the land and remained as the state flag until 1912 when it was changed to instead be charged with the state arms on the upper hoist. Flag of Kedah (18th century - 1912)

Variants

Standards

Kedah's royalty flies a series of Royal Standards that consist of plain coloured flags with the state arms charged at the centre or flags with a canton of a different colour containing the state arms. In addition, similarly designed Standards are also flown by high-ranking governments officials affiliated with the Sultan of Kedah. Like the state flag, all Standards utillise any two of or all three colours: Red, green and yellow; the colours of the arms also vary between Standards. The Standards include: * The Standard of the

Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

: A yellow flag with the state arms charged at the centre. The

wreath A wreath () is an assortment of flowers, leaves, fruits, twigs, or various materials that is constructed to form a circle . In English-speaking countries, wreaths are used typically as household ornaments, most commonly as an Advent and Chri ...

and

shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of a ...

of the arms are green, while the

crescent A crescent shape (, ) is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. In Hinduism, Lord Shiva is often shown wearing a crescent moon on his ...

is red. * The Standard of the Sultanah: A yellow flag with a red canton containing the state arms. Similar to the original arms, the wreath and shield of the Standard's arms are yellow, while the crescent is green. * The Standard of the Crown Prince: A red flag with a yellow canton containing an entirely green state arms. * The Standard of the ''

Bendahara Bendahara ( Jawi: بنداهارا) is an administrative position within classical Malay kingdoms comparable to a vizier before the intervention of European powers during the 19th century. A bendahara was appointed by a sultan and was a heredi ...

'' (Prime Minister): A red flag with a green canton containing an entirely yellow state arms. * The Standard of the President of the State Council and Sultan Advisor: A green flag with the state arms charged at the centre. The arms is entirely yellow.

Maritime flags

As a formerly independent state, Kedah was known to fly

ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

s on its ships. Among them were the state ensign and civil ensign, the former similar in design as a variant of the Kedahan Standards, while the latter adopted a different design. The state ensign took the appearance of a Standard-like design that simply incorporates a canton containing the state arms. The flag is blue, but unlike Standards of the design, its canton is essentially design as per the state flag, coloured red and containing the state arms in its original colours. The civil ensign is of a completely different design, but incorporates all three of the state's flag colours in the form of three diagonally cut sections: A large, red, diagonal per bend stripe divides the upper fly—coloured yellow—and the lower hoist—coloured green.

Coat of arms

The Kedahan coat of arms consists of only three

heraldic Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branc ...

elements: An escutcheon, a

, and a

; the arms may be illustrated with only the aforementioned elements or included against a red ellipse. Details of the arm's heraldic elements are as follows: ; Escutcheon :The escutcheon, which consists of a yellow Swiss

, represents the sovereign's authority and symbolises the role of the ruler as the protector and guardian of his subjects and all the inhabitants of Kedah from unjust governance; the shield also signifies strength and authority.
Occasionally, a

defacement Defacement or disfigurement may refer to: *Defacement (vandalism), the vandalism of physical objects, like buildings, books, paintings and statues * Website defacement, an attack on a website that changes the visual appearance of the site *Defaceme ...

with

Jawi script Jawi (; ace, Jawoë; Kelantan-Pattani Malay, Kelantan-Pattani: ''Yawi''; ) is a writing system used for writing several languages of Southeast Asia, such as Acehnese language, Acehnese, Banjar language, Banjarese, Kerinci language, Kerinci, ...

ures that reads "نݢري قدح" (State of Kedah) rest on the horizontal meridian on the shield. There has been known variations of defacements on the shield. The Jawi script may be written in black, red, or yellow (against a white band), and bands may be included behind the scripture. A variant of the shield may also include no Jawi scripts at all. ;

Crescent A crescent shape (, ) is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. In Hinduism, Lord Shiva is often shown wearing a crescent moon on his ...

:The green crescent, which is located underneath the shield and faces upwards towards the shield, signifies

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

as the state's official religion. ;

Wreath A wreath () is an assortment of flowers, leaves, fruits, twigs, or various materials that is constructed to form a circle . In English-speaking countries, wreaths are used typically as household ornaments, most commonly as an Advent and Chri ...

garland A garland is a decorative braid, knot or wreath of flowers, leaves, or other material. Garlands can be worn on the head or around the neck, hung on an inanimate object, or laid in a place of cultural or religious importance. Etymology From the ...

:The wreath or garland is depicted as two stalks of

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

tied together and enveloping the shield and crescent. It represents rice as the state's principal product. Like the

state flag In vexillology, a state flag is either the flag of the government of a sovereign state, or the flag of an individual federated state (subnational administrative division). Government flag A state flag is a variant of a national flag (or occas ...

, the Kedahan arms is featured on Standards and the state ensign. However, the colours used on the arms may vary but utilise red, green or yellow, with the wreath and shield given one colour while the crescent is given another or the same.

City, district and municipal coat of arms

File:Alor Setar Emblem.svg, Coat of arms of Alor Setar

References

{{Heraldry in Malaysia Kedah

Flags including Arabic script