The State of Brunei Darussalam

The National Flag of Brunei

The current flag of Brunei was adopted September 29, 1959, when Brunei was still a protectorate within the British Empire. Then, on January 1, 1984, Brunei gained full independence, and the flag was retained. The current flag is a yellow field with a white and black stripe running diagonally across it, from the top left, to the bottom right. In the centre are the national coat of arms.

The first flag of Brunei was a simple yellow banner. In Southeast Asia, yellow is seen as a royal colour, with the royal banner in Thailand being yellow, along with the royal standard of Malaysia. The Presidential flag  of Indonesia is also yellow. 

The second flag, adopted in 1906, took the simple yellow banner, and ran 2 stripes diagonally. A white, and black stripe. The yellow represents the Sultan, with the black and white stripes representing the chief ministers.

Then, in 1959, the final design was adopted when the national coat of arms was placed on the flag.

The arms consist of the flag, the royal umbrella, a wing, a crescent, and hands. The wing represents justice and peace, and the crescent represents Islam. On the crest, in Arabic, is written "Always in service with Gods guidance."