Rajah James Brooke sought recognition for Sarawak with its first national flag which was only hoisted in September, 1848. Having designed a flag, the Rajah then applied in 1845 to Lord Palmerston and Earl Grey, Minister for Foreign and Colonial Affairs, for the government’s recognition of Sarawak by allowing a protectorate flag to be displayed. In November, 1846, Lord Palmerston informed the Rajah that this was a matter on which Her Majesty’s government was not yet prepared to decide.
Then, in September 1848, the position between the Rajah and the British government still being the same, the Rajah impatiently decided to hoist tbe Sarawak flag.
In March the following year, the Rajah wrote again to Lord Palmerston, saying that he hoped if sanctioned by the British government, the act would provide permanency to the country, to which Lord Palmerston replied three months later that Her Majesty’s government approved the proceedings.
Commentary: As described by Harriette McDougall in a letter to his son, Charley, “The Sarawak flag is a red and purple cross, out of Sir James Brooke’s armorial shield, on a yellow ground, yellow being the colour of Borneo.
It was given by the Rajah to his people, on his return from England, in 1848, and I remember well, what a grand occasion it was. H.M.S. Maeander was in Sarawak at the time, and their band played “God Save The Queen” as the flag was, for the first time hoisted on the flag staff before the Rajah’s house.”
The purple part of the cross was soon replaced by black which was an easier dye to obtain. (Elizabeth Pollard, Kuching Past and Present, 1972 p. 20). The other known description of Sarawak flag was in the correspondence between James Brooke and Lord Palmerston mentioned as being ‘a cross of pale red and black on a yellow field’. Apparently, the purple part of the cross was soon replaced by black, a more readily available colour.
