Singapore’s national flag has five stars arranged beside a white crescent.
The stars form a pentagon in the upper hoist-side corner, on a red-over-white horizontal bicolour. The flag was adopted on 3 December 1959, when Singapore became self-governing, and it remained the national flag after independence from Malaysia on 9 August 1965. Deputy prime minister Toh Chin Chye led the committee that designed it.
The five stars represent democracy, peace, progress, justice, and equality. The crescent represents a young nation on the ascent, while red symbolizes universal fellowship and equality and white symbolizes purity and virtue. The number is sometimes confused with the three stars in earlier design discussions: the original proposal reportedly featured three stars, but two more were added before adoption. Singapore’s flag should also be distinguished from its civil and naval ensigns, which reuse the crescent-and-stars emblem in different layouts.