Template talk:Country data Sarawak

1841 and 1848 Sarawak flags

I'd like to request a change to these flags. Or at the very least add an alternate Raj of Sarawak 1848 flag.

1) The 1841 flag (St. George Cross) is based off an unsupported claim by WJ Chater in the Sarawak Gazette and also his book Sarawak Long Ago. I don't have absolute proof it didn't exist, because it's hard to prove a negative. Charles Brooke did give out his Rajah's penant, which is a completely different flag, so perhaps that's where Chater got confused... With lack of conclusive evidence either way, maybe there's no choice but to leave this flag up. This error was popularised by Dr. Chang Pat Foh when he reproduced WJ Chater's work in his books, and popularised even more by Wikipedia.

2) The 1848 blue/red cross flag with a crown currently in use in the template is an illustration of WJ Chater's hypothesis about the flag. There's no need for a hypothesis about the flag, because James Brooke described the flag himself in 1849. 'adopt the use of the flag, which is a yellow field, with a cross per pale red and black' "

Chater obviously didn't know this when he made his hypothesis.

The blue/red cross flag with a crown is wrong in 2 places - the colour of the cross, and also the existence of the crown.

Charles Brooke added the crown in the 1870s (no precise date given) to distinguish the Government flag on ships from the Merchant flag.

Please check out the Flag of Sarawak page for more info.

Thank you MatSallehSesat (talk) 00:15, 26 January 2023 (UTC)