If you’re a citizen that picks interest in flags, you will notice that the Malaysian flag and the flag of the US look very similar to each other.
The truth is that they do look the same. The United States flag has 13 stripes alternating between red and white and then topped off with a blue square located at the top left corner.
The Malaysian flag has the same similar features with 13 stripes that alternate between red and white with the same blue square in the same corner as that of the US.
The only difference is that the Malaysian flag has a crescent moon inside the blue square while the US flag has 50 stars.
But one may be forced to wonder why the flags are so similar to each other? The process will make anyone wonder if there is a reason why they’re so similar to each other.
The answer is that the similarities between the flags happened by chance and nothing more.
Both the US and Malaysian flags drew their inspiration from the pattern of the British East India Company flag, which was known as the Union flag.
The Malaysian flag was modeled with a different meaning that represented the country’s origin and its history.
As an Islamic country, the crescent moon represented their religion. Therefore, the similarities of both flags are just mere coincidences that were influenced by the same source.
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What do the Stripes of the Malaysian Flag Represent?
Like I mentioned before, the crescent moon represents Islam. The stars on the Crescent moon have a star with 14 points symbolizing their entities’ unity, and the entities are 14 in number.
The blue color also represents the unity that the Malaysian people share.
The yellow color of the stars is representing the royal yellow color of the Malaysian royals.
Their 13 stripes symbolize the 13 original colonies for the US, while their 50 stars also stand in for the number of states. Their blue color stands for vigilance, justice, and perseverance.
The color red symbolizes hardiness and valor, and the white one stands for purity and innocence.
The stripes of the Malaysian flag are another interesting feature that will draw attention to it. It represents the equal status of all the 13 states of their region.
Therefore, the Malaysian flag is shrouded in symbolizing meanings and culture-rich for a developing nation.
The Blue Canton, What does it Represent?
A Canton is a small rectangular area of a flag usually located at the top corners of the flag. The cantons of most nation’s flags can be substituted as their flags for unofficial purposes.
The British people have the Union Jack as their Canton, for instance. This shows that the Canton is very symbolic for every nation.
The blue Canton in the Malaysian flag is a very good symbol of peace and unity that their people choose.
The blue canton of the US flag stands for justice, perseverance and vigilance. These are core values that the US demands from its citizens.
Why do so Many Flags Look like the US?
The United States flag was used mostly as a design model for most countries ‘ flags since theirs has a beautiful design.
At this point, it’s mostly about the imitation of something good to create another design entirely.
This resulted in some countries having similar flag designs to that of the US. However, the similarities are not a result of any significant connection which may appear in some quarters.
What are other Flags Similar to that of the US?
Liberia
The Liberian is perhaps a perfect model of the US flag with its horizontal red and white straps.
They looked so similar to each other that the only distinguishing factor is the one star on the blue Canton of the Liberian flag. This may be down to the influence of America in their colonization.
Malaysia
The relationship between the US and Malaysian flags has been rightfully explained above as being coincidental.
Togo
The Togolese imitated the US flag but decided to go with a different color with only three green stripes in between 2 red ones.
The flag has a red canton that has only one star. TheThe red Canton stands for charity, fidelity, and love, while the white 5 pointed star signifies purity.
Uruguay
The flag of Uruguay has a similar pattern to the US flag, but just like others, it decided to make it look different with blue and white stripes with a single yellow star in the white Canton.
Chile
Chile decided to go very simple in its imitation technique from the US flag. They used 2 stripes of red and white while a white star is fixed in the blue canton.
In Conclusion
The Malaysian and US flags may not have much connection but are rest assured that they looked very similar.
Therefore, it’s important to read them and know what they signify before making a conclusive thought.