by Najeer Yusof
FLAGS were first used on the battlefield so that warriors could identify the position of their leaders during the battle. The term “flag” comes from the Saxon word “fflaken”, which means to fly or float in air. Flags are largely symbolic, where the different colors on a flag have their own meaning. Here are some flags you can see around Singapore – do you know what they mean?
NATIONAL FLAG: The Singapore flag can be seen in schools, outside homes and even at the Parliament building. The flag was unveiled on Dec 3, 1959 and was created by a committee which was led by then Deputy Prime Minister, Dr Toh Chin Chye. The flag replaced the British Union Jack, which had flown over Singapore for 140 years and was recognised as the official national flag of Singapore in 1965, when she gained her independence. The flag is made up of two equal horizontal sections – red above white. There is a white crescent moon on the upper left side of the red section. Next to the moon, there are five white stars. There is a symbolic meaning behind each feature of the flag. The colour red represents universal brotherhood and equality of man, while white stands for pervading and everlasting purity and virtue. The crescent moon depicts a young and growing nation. Subsequently, the five stars signifies Singapore’s ideals of democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality.
POLITICAL PARTY FLAGS: These flags can be seen during the election period, which usually takes place once every four to five years, in Singapore. All the various political parties have their own party flag. They are only allowed to display and distribute them during the election period. Political party flags are usually made up of a background with one solid colour, with the partly emblem in the middle. This particular flag belongs to opposition political party Workers’ Party (WP), which has been around since 1957. The blue flag contains the party emblem: A yellow hammer on a red circle. These flags were seen being waved by party supporters during the WP rallies in the election season last year.
MILITARY FLAGS: These flags can be seen openly paraded during the annual National Day Parade, on August 9. During the parade, these flags are called the Colours. Every vocation of the Singapore Armed Forces, such as the Guards, Infantry, Commando and Military Police, have their own unique flag. The vocational flags display the emblems of the various vocations. Besides vocational flags, there are also organizational flags such as the Singapore Armed Forces and the Chief of Defence Force flags. (Photo by Brian Jeffery Beggerly)
RELIGIOUS FLAG: The Sikh flag, or the Nishan Sahib, can be found outside all Sikh Gurdwara-temples around Singapore. It is made up of a saffron coloured-triangular flag that is tied to a pole, covered in saffron-coloured cloth. The flag contains the Khanda Chakkar Kirpan symbol. On the top of the flag pole is a Khanda-double edged sword. The saffron color stands for courage and sacrifice, while the triangular shape denotes the union of God, spirituality, and the mundane, represented by the three corners of the flag. The Khanda Chakkar Kirpan symbol consists of a double-edged sword – Khanda, a flat, steel ring with sharp outer edge – Chakkar, and two slightly curved daggers – Kirpans. The symbol represents Sikhism and is of great significance to the Sikhs. The Khanda on top of the flagpole affirms the location of the temple and represents the faith in one God. It also, signifies high spirits, rights, freedom, justice, and sovereignty. The Nishan Sahib was first introduced in 1608 AD, by the sixth Guru Hargobind and is the only religious flag in the world with a weapon at the top of its pole.
SEXUAL IDENTITY FLAG: The six striped rainbow flag is iconic of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community. The flag originated from San Francisco, California, but can now be found across the world. This particular flag can be found at Dorothy’s bar, along Temple Street. The ‘Rainbow’ flag was not always made up of six colours. When Mr Gilbert Baker made the first flag in 1970, it had eight colours, hot pink, red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, indigo and violet. The colours stood for sexuality, life, healing, the sun, nature, art, harmony and spirit, respectively. Today, it only has six colours: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet. The hot pink colour was lost when Mr Baker approached Paramount Flag Company to mass produce the flags. The company did not have that colour, as it was not in high demand. Eventually, after the assassination of Mr Harvey Milk, a supervisor on San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors and the first openly gay person to hold a high public office in the state, the indigo colour was lost. The then seven coloured flag was separated into two flags. To even out the colours and ease the separation, the indigo colour was lost. Mr Baker’s flag first flew in 1978, during San Francisco’s Gay Freedom Day (now called San Francisco Gay-Pride Parade). Today, the six-coloured flag is flown during the annual parade and is recognised worldwide as the symbol for the LGBT community.
MARITIME SIGNAL FLAGS: Nautical flags are used as a form of communication between ships when at sea and they are internationally recognized under International Code Signals. The first International Code was created in 1857 by the British Board of Trade. It had 70,000 signals, 17,000 messages, and used 18 flags. Over time, more flags were added to represent different languages such as Spanish, French and German. Code signal flags can be used alone or combined to send messages. The Code Signal flags make up a 26 squares code, which has flags assigned to each alphabet. There are also ten numeral pennants, one answering pennant, and three repeaters. For example, the yellow flag with a black “X” is a numerical pennant which represents the number five and the term, “breakdown”. These flags come in colour combinations such as blue and yellow, black and white and red and white. (Photo by Koh Jin Guan)
SPORTS FLAG: The Corner flag is significant to Soccer. The flag stands at the four corners of the rectangular-shaped soccer pitch – hence its name – and demarcates the pitch boundary. The arc in front of the flag is where corner kicks are taken. The height of the flag should not be shorter than 1.5 meters and should not have a pointed top. The flag was first introduced in 1862, however it is unclear who made this call. The standard flag is a plain red one. However, they come in other colours and patterns, such as red and yellow checks. Some soccer teams, such as Manchester United football club, also have their logos imprinted on the corner flags in their own pitch.
RACE FLAG: The checkered flag is iconic to motor racing. It is only waved at the end of the race. The origin of these flags date back to the 1800s. However, who introduced them and why they did so remains unknown. There are possible reasons for why the flag might be checkered. One reason is that the contrasting colours of checkered flags were easy to spot by drivers through the dirt and dust kicked up by the cars. After all, races back then were not on the tar roads we have today, but on dirt roads. However, the tradition persists to this very day, and the flags are now an iconic feature of motor racing. (Photo by Jim Clark)
OTHER FLAGS: These checkered white and red flags can be seen on top of tower cranes at construction sites during the day. They serve to warn airplanes, so as to prevent them from flying near the cranes. These flags were introduced on Mar 6, 2004, as part of safety measures for tower cranes by the Ministry of Manpower. At night, red lights replace the flags but serve the same function.
Featured image from TMG file.
Images by Staff Photographer Najeer Yusof and Flickr users: Brian Jeffery Beggerly, Jin Guan KOH, Jim Clark.
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