Use Civil and state flag Adopted 1949 | Proportion 1:2 | |
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Design A triband of light blue, white and yellow; an areca nut palm tree within the middle white band. | ||
The state flag of Penang, a Malaysian state, consists of three vertical bands and an areca-nut palm on a grassy mount in the centre. All three bands are of equal width. From left to right, the colour of each band is light blue, white and yellow.
The colours of the flag are derived from the tinctures of the coat of arms of Penang that was granted by King George VI in the 1940s. Light blue denotes the sea that surrounds Penang Island, white represents peace and yellow for the prosperity of the state.
The areca-nut palm, known as pokok pinang in Malay, symbolises the tree from which Penang got its name. The tree and its grassy mount is centred within the middle white band.
The flag was first adopted in 1949 after Penang became a component state of the Federation of Malaya. The flag was slightly modified to its present form in the 1960s by removing a torse of blue and white at the bottom of the grassy mount.
City Flag
Since 2015, the Penang Island City Council has been flying its own city flag, which consists of the coat of arms of the City Council at the centre and a white background. The coat of arms is emblazoned with the City Council's official Malay name, Majlis Bandaraya Pulau Pinang, around the bottom. The flag is flown at the City Hall in George Town alongside the Malaysian and Penang state flags.