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
Federation in practice highly centralized under the government of the Soviet Union. The Russian Federation has inherited a similar system. Nigeria, Pakistan, India and Malaysia became federations on or shortly before becoming independent from the British Empire. In some recent cases, federations have been instituted as a measure to handle ethnic conflict within a state, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Iraq since 2005. With the United States Constitution having become effective on 4 March 1789, the United States is the oldest surviving federation. On the other end of the timeline is Nepal, which became the newest federation after its constitution