Crown Colony of Sarawak 1946-1963 (Malaysia)

Last modified: 2004-09-10 by santiago dotor
Keywords: sarawak | union flag | blue ensign | governor | cross (black and red) | crown | coat of arms | disc (white) |
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by Blas Delgado, Jorge Candeias and Santiago Dotor

• Description
• White Circle around the Badge?
• Governor's Flag

See also:

• Governor-General for South East Asia 1946-1963
• Independent Kingdom of Sarawak 1841-1946
• Sarawak (Malaysia)
• Malaysia
• Brunei

From 1 July 1946 until 10 March 1947 the colony used the British ensigns, having no distinctive badge. On 1 July 1946 [sic] the colony was granted its own badge, reproducing the old State flag, and it was placed on the Blue Ensign and in the middle of the Union for the Governor's flag. On 9 March 1963 the independent Sarawak adopted the old State flag.

Mario Fabretto, 18 September 1997

When Sarawak became a Crown Colony in 1946 the standard colonial flags were introduced:

• Union Flag, badge on a white disc surrounded by a laurel leaf garland. This was the flag of the Governor. The badge was a yellow shield with the same bi-coloured cross and the same style crown in the centre of the cross.
• Blue Ensign. Badge in the fly, usually shown as being on a white disc, though I wouldn't have thought that the disc was necessary. For government vessels.
• Merchant ships presumably flew the plain undefaced Red Ensign.

Mario Fabretto, 2 October 1997
quoted by David Prothero, 22 July 1998

I hope I am not repeating Mario Fabretto's work, but I couldn't find in my files any GIFs from him, so I GIFfed the merchant flag, the personal flag of the Rajah as (using Uros Zizmund's crown), the [Governor's] Union Flag (based on a GIF by Bruce Berry) and the Blue Ensign (based on a GIF by Dave Martucci).

Jorge Candeias, 29 October 1998

In spite of Mario Fabretto's sources, according to Gresham Carr 1961, page 116, a [white] disc was certainly used. As for Merchant ships, as Mario Fabretto's sources said, unless there was a specific Admiralty Warrant authorising a defaced Red Ensign for the colony, the undefaced ensign would be used.

David Prothero, 29 October 1998

In the case of the Sarawak Blue Ensign, maybe the flag was made with the white circle. However unless it is known for certain that this was so, it seems to me that a white circle is not necessary, and that it should be drawn without one. The correct size would be achieved by putting a circle, four ninths of the breadth of the ensign in the middle of the fly, making the shield as large a