Federated Malay States
The
Federated Malay States (FMS) was a
federation of four states on the
Malay Peninsula -
Pahang,
Perak,
Selangor, and
Negeri Sembilan - established by the
British government in
1895, and lasted until
1946, when they together with the
Straits Settlements and the
Unfederated Malay States formed the
Malayan Union. Two years later, the Union became the
Federation of Malaya and finally Malaysia in
1963 with the inclusion of
Sabah (then
North Borneo),
Sarawak and
Singapore.
The
United Kingdom was responsible for foreign affairs and defence, whilst the states continued to be responsible for their domestic policies. Even so, the British
Resident General would give advice on domestic issues, and the states were bound by treaty to follow that advice.
The federation had
Kuala Lumpur in then part of Selangor as its capital. The first FMS Resident General was Sir
Frank Swettenham.
While the four states issued their own
postage stamps as before, there were additional issues for the Federated States as a whole.
The Federated Malay States had a flag of its own until 1946. The flag has four stripes of four colors; namely, from the top to the bottom stripe, white, red, yellow and black. Combination of any color represents the four states that formed the FMS - red, black and yellow are for Negeri Sembilan; black and white for Pahang; black, white and yellow for Perak; and red and yellow for Selangor. The same design concept is used in
Malaysian national emblem. In the middle is an oblong circle with a
Malayan tiger in it.
National History Museum located nearby
Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia has a replica of the federation's flag.
*
HMS Malaya (1915)*
Pangkor Treaty of 1874
