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Location:
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Southeastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and Malaysia.
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Area:
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5,765 km² 2,226 sq mi
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Border Countries:
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Apart from its coastline with the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the state of Sarawak, East Malaysia. Brunei, the remnant of a very powerful sultanate, became independent from Great Britain in 1984.
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Capital City:
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Bandar Seri Begawan
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Main Cities:
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Brunei is divided into districts, called daerah. These are: Belait ,Brunei, Muara, Temburong, Tutong. The districts are sub-divided into 38 mukims.
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Population:
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374,000
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Currency:
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Brunei ringgit (BND)
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Languages:
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Malay (official), English, Chinese
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Religions:
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Muslim (official) 67%, Buddhist 13%, Christian 10%, indigenous beliefs and other 10%
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The flag of Brunei: The Brunei Darussalam Flag of yellow, white and black was redesigned to include the red state crest to mark the public declaration of Brunei’s Written Constitution on 29th September 1959. On the same date Brunei achieved internal self-government and the State Flag is now an important symbol for modern, independent Brunei. But the roots of the flag have a much longer history – one which bring together a long Bruneian tradition of personal standards and flags.
Before 1906, Brunei had no single state emblem. Instead, Brunei royal family members and state officials held personal flags and standard. Of these, the most important belonged to the Sultan and Wazir (Viziers – principal state official).
In 1906 the basic bold yellow, white and black flag was adopted as state emblem. The colours were symbolically taken from the traditional standards of the Sultan (yellow) and the two principal Wazir who signed the history agreement (white and black).
Today there are five Wazirs in Brunei and their personal flags can be also seen flying on special occasions. These include that of the principal Wazir, the Duli Pengiran Perdana Wazir (white with the state crest in yellow) and the four further Wazirs; Pengiran Bendahara (white), Pengiran Digadong (green), Pengiran Pemancha (black) and Pengiran Temenggong (red). When the news, updated State Flag was adopted in 1959 all other individual flags and standard were abolished except for personal flags.
The rectangular shaped State flag of four component portion, two parallelograms and two trapeziums - is cut across by a parallelogram from a point 6.35 cm below the top left corner to a point of the same distance from the bottom corner on the right side. The standard measures 82 cm long by 91.4 cm wide.
The parallelogram dividing the rectangle in this manner leaves two similar trapeziums at the top and bottom of the flag, with the lower trapezium assuming the inverted form of the upper trapezium.
The parallelogram is again divided into two parallelograms of unequal depths, the upper being 2.54 cm wider that the lower which is 19.05 cm in width.
The State crest in red superimposes the center of the flag.
The forefingers of the upright arms, which support the red crest, are equidistant at 61 cm from the left and right sides of the flag.
Embodied in the crest in yellow Arabic script is the state motto, which can be roughly translated: Always Render Service by God's Guidance
Four colours are incorporated in the flag, red for the crest, yellow for the trapeziums, white for the upper parallelogram and black for the lower parallelogram.
Brunei, officially the Sultanate of Brunei (Malay: Negara Brunei Darussalam, Arabic: Jawi: is a country located on the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia.
Close to vital sea lanes through South China Sea linking Indian and Pacific Oceans; two parts physically separated by Malaysia; almost an enclave within Malaysia.
The Sultanate of Brunei was very powerful from the 14th through the 16th century. Its realm covered the whole island of Borneo and the southern Philippines. European influence gradually brought an end to this regional power. Later, there was a brief war with Spain, in which Brunei was victorious. The decline of the Bruneian Empire culminated in the 19th century when Brunei lost much of its territory to the White Rajahs of Sarawak, resulting in its current small landmass and separation into two parts. Brunei was a British protectorate from 1888 to 1984.
There was a small rebellion against the monarchy during the 1960s, which was prevented by the United Kingdom. This event became known as the Brunei Revolt and was partly responsible for the failure to create the North Borneo Federation. The rebellion also affected Brunei's decision to opt out of the Malaysian Federation and was the first stage of the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation.
Brunei consists of two unconnected parts; 97% of the population lives in the larger western part, only about 10,000 live in the mountainous eastern part, the district of Temburong. The total population of Brunei is 383,000 and out of that number about 46,000 people live in the capital Bandar Seri Begawan. Some major towns are the capital Bandar, the port town Muara, the oil producing town of Seria and its neighboring town, Kuala Belait (K.B). In the Belait district, the Panaga area is home to large numbers of expatriates due to Royal Dutch Shell and British Army housing and recreational facilities. The well-known Panaga Club is situated here.
The climate in Brunei is equatorial Tropical climate tropical, with high temperatures, a high humidity , sunshine and heavy rainfall throughout the year.
About two-thirds of the Brunei population are of Malay origin. The most important ethnic minority group who dominated the nation's economy are the Chinese, with about 15%. These groups also reflect the most important languages: Malay (Malay: Bahasa Melayu), which is the official language, and Chinese. English is also widely spoken and there is a relatively large expatriate community with large numbers of British and Australian citizens.
Islam is the official religion of Brunei, and the sultan is the head of the religion in the country. Other faiths practised are Buddhism (mainly by the Chinese), Christianity and (in very small communities) indigenous religions.
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The flag is a piece of cloth, often flown from a pole or mast, generally used for signalling or identification. The design of a flag displayed in another form is also referred to as a flag. The first flags were used to assist military coordination on battlefields, and flags have evolved into a general tool for rudimentary signalling and identification, especially in environments where communication is similarly challenging (such as the maritime environment where semaphore is used).
National flags are potent patriotic symbols with varied wide-ranging interpretations, often including strong military associations due to their original and ongoing military uses. Flags are used in messaging or advertising, or for decorative purposes, though at this less formal end the distinction between a flag and a simple cloth banner is blurred. The study of flags is known as vexillology, from the Latin vexillum meaning flag or banner.
Although flag-like symbols have been used by ancient cultures for thousands of years, the origin of flags in the modern sense is a matter of dispute. Some believe flags originated in China, while others hold that the Roman Empire's vexillum was the first true flag. Originally, the standards of the Roman legions were not flags, but symbols like the eagle of Augustus Caesar's Xth legion; this eagle would be placed on a staff for the standard-bearer to hold up during battle. But a military unit from Scythia had for a standard a dragon with a flexible tail which would move in the wind; the legions copied this; eventually all the legions had flexible standards — our modern-day flag.
During the Middle Ages, flags were used mainly during battles to identify individual leaders: in Europe the knights, in Japan the samurai, and in China the generals under the imperial army.
From the time of Christopher Columbus onwards, it has been customary (and later a legal requirement) for ships to carry flags designating their nationality; these flags eventually evolved into the national flags and maritime flags of today. Flags also became the preferred means of communications at sea, resulting in various systems of flag signals; see International maritime signal flags.
Beginning in the 17th century, European knights were replaced by centralized armies, and flags became the means to identify not just nationalities but also individual military units. Flags became much more elaborate, and were seen as objects to be captured or defended. Eventually these flags posed too much danger to those carrying them, and by World War I these were withdrawn from the battlefields, and have since been used only at ceremonial occasions.
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