MY-256723 The Flag of Malaysia

The 14 stripes of the Malaysian flag represent the equal status in the federation of the 13 member states and the federal government, while the 14 points of the star represent the unity between these entities.

The current flag was introduced in September 1963 and the 14 stripes and points on the star at that time represented the 11 states of Malaya and the three new states (when Malaysia was formed) of Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore.  When Singapore left to become an independent country in 1965, the flag was not modified even though there were only 13 states left.

When Kuala Lumpur was designated a Federal Territory on 1 February 1974, the additional stripe and the point in the star were appropriated to represent this new addition to the federation. Eventually, with the addition of two other federal territories — Labuan in 1984 and Putrajaya in 2001 — the fourteenth stripe and point in the star came to be associated with the federal government in general.

This postcard came from Melissa (8 june 2015) Postcrossing.