Flag of Singapore Flag of Singapore The national flag of Singapore was adopted in 1959, the year Singapore became self-governing within the British Empire. It was reconfirmed as the national flag when the republic gained independence on 9 August 1965. Prior to its independence, it was the only state flag in Malaysia not to have a 1:2 ratio. The design is a horizontal bicolour of red above white, overlaid in the canton (upper-left quadrant) by a white crescent moon facing a pentagon of five small white five-pointed stars, loosely resembling the Southern Cross, also known as Crux. The elements of the flag denote
History of the Ottoman Empire to the status of self-governing monarchy under nominal Ottoman suzerainty. In 1821 the First Hellenic Republic became the first Balkan country to achieve its independence from the Ottoman Empire. It was officially recognised by the Porte in 1829, after the end of the Greek War of Independence. The Tanzimat reforms did not halt the rise of nationalism in the Danubian Principalities and the Principality of Serbia, which had been semi-independent for almost six decades. In 1875, the tributary principalities of Serbia and Montenegro, and the United Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, unilaterally declared their independence from the empire. Following the