Flag and coat of arms of Johor


The flag and coat of arms of Johor are the official state symbols of Johor, which has been a state of Malaysia since 1963. As with other Malaysian states with Malay royalty, Johor's symbols reflect the influence of its royal institution, as well as elements of Islam and the state's political and natural heritage. Many of these symbols, including the present flag and coat of arms, predate modern Malaysia. They were already in use when Johor functioned as a more sovereign kingdom, and continued after the state came under the indirect control of the United Kingdom in 1885 and later a part of the British Unfederated Malay States.

Flag

Design

Johor's state flag bears a canton pattern, a predominantly navy blue design with a bright red field on the upper left canton (quarter), which contains a white crescent and a white five-pointed star. Running slightly less than half the length of the flag, the field unconventionally occupies roughly three fifths of the flag's hoist. In addition, the crescent is not aligned upright, tilting to the right towards the lower fly end and wrapping slightly around the star, which is positioned towards the lower right corner of the field.
The flag in general attempts to symbolise Johor as a whole. The navy blue, which occupies roughly three quarters of the flag, represents the universe, or the state government. The red represents the warriors that defend the state, while the white crescent and white star denote Islam and Johor's sovereign ruler, respectively.

Variants

The vast majority of flags in use or formerly used by officials and government branches in the state borrow elements of the state flag, some of which are merely recolours. With the introduction of a unified state flag, many of them became obsolete, with the exception of the Royal Standards.

Standards

A series of Royal Standards are flown by the Sultan of Johor and his family, which lower-ranking members are assigned specific Standards. In addition, standards were also adopted for traditional high-ranking officials, including the bendahara, the Temenggung and the Sultan's Marshall.
The Standards are typically plain flags with a star and crescent, with truncating triangles placed on each corner of the flag; only the Standards of the Sultan and the Crown Prince are depicted without the truncations. In addition, each flag, with the exception of the Sultan's Enquerries, are coloured in only two colours, including white, blue, red and yellow. The number of points on the star also determines the rank of the Standard holder: The Sultan's Standard depicts a nine-pointed star, while the Standard for other members of the royal family depicts a five-pointed star.
The series of Standards include:the Standard of the Sultan: A white flag with a blue nine-pointed star and crescent;the Standard of the Permaisuri: A blue flag with a white seven-pointed star and crescent and four white triangles on each corner;the Standard of the Crown Prince: A white flag with a red seven-pointed star and crescent;the Standard of the Crown Prince's Consort: A red flag with a white five-pointed star and crescent and four white triangles on each corner;the Standard of the Raja Muda: A white flag with a blue seven-pointed star and crescent and four blue triangles on each corner;the Standard of the Regent: A yellow-blue per bend divided flag with a red five-pointed star and crescent in the centre;the Standard of the Tun: A white flag with a yellow five-pointed star and crescent and four yellow triangles on each corner;the Standard of the Bendahara: A white flag with a red five-pointed star and crescent and four red triangles on each corner;the Standard of the Temenggong: Yellow flag with blue five-pointed star and crescent and four blue triangles on each corner;the Standard of the Laksamana: Blue flag with yellow five-pointed star and crescent and four yellow triangles on each corner;
  • the Standard of the Panglima: Blue flag with red five-pointed star and crescent and four red triangles on each corner;
  • the Standard of the Putera: Red flag with blue five-pointed star and crescent and four blue triangles on each corner;
  • the Standard of the Sultan's Equerries: Black field with red canton containing a five-pointed white star and crescent, similar to the civil flag and ensign, but features a swallowtail that extends close to canton; andthe Standard for other members of the royal family: A yellow flag with a blue five-pointed star and crescent.

Governmental flags

As of 1939, flags were flown by numerous state officials in Johor, including the governing heads of state or district. The vast majority of flag consist of only a plain coloured flag with a five-pointed star and crescent similar to that from the state flag, with some divided diagonally a la party per bend. They include:the flag of the Chief Minister of Johor: A blue flag with a white five-pointed star and crescent in the centre;the Military flag: A blue flag with yellow canton containing a red five-pointed star and crescent, and a white crossed kris and sword on the lower fly;the Commercial flag: A black flag with a red canton containing a white five-pointed star and crescent;the Marine flag: A white flag with blue canton containing a red five-pointed star and crescent;the Police flag: A red flag with black canton containing a white five-pointed star and crescent;the State Ceremonial Flag: A red flag with a white five-pointed star and crescent, and a yellow and blue bordure.the Marine Jack A blue flag with a red five-pointed star and crescent, and a white bordure.the Territorial Government Boat Ensign A black flag with red canton containing a white five-pointed star and crescent, and a red lozenge containing a white five-pointed star and crescent on the lower fly;the Government Official Pennant A blue pennant containing a white five-pointed star and crescent;the flag of the State Commissioner for Muar: An orthogonally quartered flag with the first quarter coloured red with a white five-pointed star and crescent, the second and third quarters coloured black, and the fourth quarter coloured yellow with a red five-pointed star and crescent; formerly Flag of the State Commissioner for Muar ; now has been re-introduced back as Muar Flag by the Muar District Office.the flag of the State Commissioner for Batu Pahat: A red-black per bend divided flag with a white five-pointed star and crescent in the centre; andthe flag of the State Commissioner for Segamat: A red-white per bend divided flag with a yellow five-pointed star and crescent in the centre.
In addition, pennants were known to be flown, illustrated as a triangular flag containing the same five pointed star and crescent. The "State Officials' Pennant" was coloured blue with a white star and crescent, while another variant of unknown use was coloured yellow with a blue star and crescent.

District flags

Johor has ten administrative districts, each assigned their own district-level flags. They were introduced on 3 March 2015.
DistrictFlagBannerField colourSymbolisation
Johor BahruRed
White
Blue
A red-blue per bend divided flag with a white five-pointed star and crescent in the centre.
KulaiRed
White
Blue
An orthogonally quartered flag with the first and fourth quarters coloured red, and the second and third quarters coloured blue with white five-pointed star and crescent in the centre.
PontianRed
White
Blue
A red-blue horizontally divided flag with a white five-pointed star and crescent in the centre.
Batu PahatRed
White
Black
A red-black per bend divided flag with a white five-pointed star and crescent in the centre.
MuarRed
White
Black
Yellow
An orthogonally quartered flag with the first quarter coloured red with a white five-pointed star and crescent, the second and third quarters coloured black, and the fourth quarter coloured yellow with a red five-pointed star and crescent.
TangkakRed
White
Blue
A blue triangle on a red field flag with a white five-pointed star and crescent in the centre. The triangle symbolise Mount Ledang, a highest mountain in Johor.
SegamatRed
White
Yellow
A red-white per bend divided flag with a yellow five-pointed star and crescent in the centre.
KluangRed
White
Blue
A blue field with a red diagonal band from the lower hoist side to the upper fly side with a white five-pointed star and crescent in the centre.
MersingRed
White
Blue
Two equal horizontal bands of white and blue with a red isosceles triangle based on the hoist side with a white five-pointed star and crescent at the hoist. The white at an upper field symbolise South China Sea.
Kota TinggiRed
White
Blue
A diagonal tricolour of red, white and blue radiating from the lower hoist side corner with white five-pointed star and crescent at the upper hoist side. The white at a centre field symbolise Johor River where the old Sultanate of Johor was established here on 1528.

Obsolete state flag

The Johorean flag is known to date back as early as the 1850s, when a flag that consisted of a simple black flag with a white canton shaped as a square was flown by the Sultanate between 1855 and 1865. The design was also adopted by Trumong, in present-day Indonesia.

Coat of arms

Johor's coat of arms derives its layout heavily from Western heraldry, consisting of a central shield topped by a crown, sided by two supporters, and includes a compartment and motto at the bottom. Details of the arms' elements are:
;Crown
;Escutcheon
;Supporters
;Compartment and motto
There were two versions of Johor State Arms prior to the current one adopted in 1892. The first one adopted in 1858 consisted of the Royal Crown, an oval shield featuring a crescent and star and pepper and gambier branches. The second one adopted in 1888 feature three asterisks or Cloves surrounding a crescent and star on a white shield.

City, district and municipal council emblems

All 16 local governments in Johor have their own emblem, which evolved in design throughout history. Each design may reflect a municipality's identities and or the roles and responsibilities of its local authority. Since 2018, two elements of the state coat of arms – the two rampant tigers and the royal crown of Johor have been incorporated by the state government, and become the common features of all the state's local government emblems to reflect the state's rapid economic development; although slightly differ in appearance. This results in emblems that look almost similar in style to the State Coat of Arms.
EmblemMunicipalityLocal governmentOther notable elementMotto
Batu PahatBatu Pahat Municipal Council
Majlis Perbandaran Batu Pahat
Maju dan Sejahtera
Iskandar PuteriIskandar Puteri City Council
  • Two Sprigs of Black pepper
  • Elephant Tusks
  • Bridge
  • Road markings
  • Johor state flag
Majlis Bandaraya Iskandar Puteri
Johor BahruJohor Bahru City Council
  • Scroll
  • Sprigs of Black pepper and Gambir
  • Johor State Banner
  • Building
  • Gear or cogwheel
Berkhidmat, Berbudaya, Berwawasan
Bandaraya Johor Bahru
KluangKluang Municipal Council
Maju Sejahtera
Majlis Perbandaran Kluang
Kota TinggiKota Tinggi District Council
1528 Harmoni Berbudaya

Majlis Daerah Kota Tinggi
KulaiKulai Municipal Council
2004 Majlis Perbandaran Kulai
LabisLabis District Council
  • Human Figure
  • Factory
  • Building
  • Gear or cogwheel
  • Sprigs of Black pepper
Majlis Daerah Labis
Berkhidmat untuk Rakyat
MersingMersing District Council
MDM Perkhidmatan Untuk Rakyat
MuarMuar Municipal Council
  • Muar District Flag
Kepada Allah Berserah Majlis Perbandaran Muar
Pasir GudangPasir Gudang City Council
  • Circuit lines
  • Champak Flower
  • Gear or cogwheel
  • Crescent and star
  • City Council Headquarters and other buildings
  • Trees
  • Ship
  • Floral compartment
Majlis Bandaraya Pasir Gudang
PengerangPengerang Municipal Council
  • Map of Pengerang with Kota Tinggi District Flag
  • Beach
  • Coconut trees
  • Sailboat
  • Buildings
  • Black pepper compartment
Majlis Perbandaran Pengerang
PontianPontian Municipal Council
  • Pineapple
  • Factory and cogwheel
  • Fish
  • Bridge
  • Pontian District Flag
  • Black pepper compartment
1976 Majlis Perbandaran Pontian

Setia Khidmat
SegamatSegamat Municipal Council
  • Segamat District Flag
  • Crescent and star
  • Black pepper compartment
  • Gear or cogwheel
  • Buildings
  • Human Figure
  • Leaves
  • Trees
Khidmat Untuk Rakyat
Majlis Perbandaran Segamat
Simpang RenggamSimpang Renggam District Council
  • Gear or cogwheel
  • Building
  • Hibiscus flower
  • Book
  • Leaves
Usaha Maju Jaya
Majlis Daerah Simpang Renggam
TangkakTangkak District Council
Berusaha Untuk Makmur
Majlis Daerah Tangkak
Yong PengYong Peng District Council
  • Buildings
  • Trees
Majlis Daerah Yong Peng