FLAG OF THE MALDIVES: HISTORY AND MEANING - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The flag of Maldives is the national flag of that Islamic republic of the Indian Ocean. It is made up of a red frame with a large green rectangle inside. Inside this rectangle there is a white crescent, a symbol of Islam. The flag has been in force since the country's independence in 1965.

The Maldives passed from Buddhist to Islamic rule, being the fact that marked them definitively. However, the use of conventional flags came from the hands of the Europeans: first with the Portuguese, through the Dutch and then with the British. However, the monarchs of the Maldives began to have their own banners, in which the color red predominated.

Maldives flag. (user: Nightstallion).

A white crescent was added to the original red flag, as well as a horizontal strip of black and white colors. After a brief interruption of the monarchy during the British protectorate, a green rectangle was added. Most of those symbols remain today.

Green and the crescent can be understood as symbols of Islam. Red represents the blood shed by the Maldives, while green is also identified with prosperity and peace.

History of the flag

The history of the population of the Maldives is very old. It is believed that some of the first settlers were descendants of Tamils. However, the first historical records are already from around the 5th century AD. Since then, the archipelago has been dominated by different religious and political groups.

He was buddhist

One of the great historical periods of the Maldives centered on its Buddhist era, which spanned 1400 years. Since then, a Maldivian culture developed, as well as its language, script, customs and architecture. Before Buddhism, Hinduism was implanted in the Maldives, but it was replaced in time by Buddhism from the 3rd century AD. C.

By the 11th century, some northern atolls were conquered by the Chola. In this way, they became part of the Chola Empire. However, legends estimate that the first unification of the archipelago in the form of a state was under the reign of Koimala.

Koimala would have established a kingdom from the north to Male, current capital, to establish a kingdom. That caused the ruling dynasty on that island, called Aadeetta, or of the Sun, to cease.

Koimala was a lunar, Homa king, and his marriage to the solar dynasty gave the sultan the title of descended from the sun and the moon. In these first attempts at status, no Maldivian flags are known, but only actual symbols.

Islamic era

The most radical cultural change occurred after the arrival of Arab merchants from the Indian Ocean in the 12th century. By 1153, the last Buddhist king of the Maldives, Dhoevemi, converted to Islam, thus consummating the religious shift.

Thereafter, the king took the title of sultan and acquired an Arabic name: Muhammad al Adil, which began a series of six dynasties of sultans that lasted until 1965.

The Maldives' conversion to Islam was late compared to other Asian regions. However, the Islam of the Maldives had more similarities with that of North Africa, for its schools of jurisprudence and applied beliefs, in addition to the use of Arabic at the time. However, other hypotheses maintain that the origin could be in Somalia.

First European contacts

The Maldives, despite being a late convert to Islam, was not exempt from contacts with European navigators and their subsequent colonization. The first to arrive there were the Portuguese.

Previously, they had established a colony in the Indian city of Goa. In 1558, in the Maldives they established a settlement called Viador, from which they tried to spread Christianity.

Fifty years later, after a revolt, local groups expelled the Portuguese from the Maldives. Since then, this date is commemorated as a national day. The flag used then was the same as the Portuguese Empire.

Flag of the Portuguese Empire. (1521). (Guilherme Paula).

Later, the other Europeans who came into contact with the Maldives were the Dutch. From their colony in Ceylon, after having replaced the Portuguese, the Dutch managed the affairs of the Maldives without directly entering their government, by respecting Islamic customs.

The Dutch representation was made through the flag of the Netherlands East India Company. This flag is composed of the red white and blue tricolor and the initials of the company.

Flag of the Netherlands East India Company. (Himasaram, from Wikimedia Commons).

British contact

The final change in colonial power took place in 1796, when the British drove the Dutch out of Ceylon. The Maldives Islands were part of the new British colonial entity, with the status of a protected state.

However, recognition of the Maldives as a British protectorate did not come until 1887. At that time, the Sultan of Maldives signed a contract with the British Governor General of Ceylon to establish the protectorate.

The new political status for the Maldives determined that the sultanate had power in matters of domestic politics, but delegated foreign policy and sovereignty to the British. In return, the British offered military protection and no interference with local laws dictated from the sultanate.

First Maldivian flags

Since before the arrival of the British, it is estimated that the Maldives began to use a red flag as a symbol of the unified monarchy of the archipelago.

Flag with the royal color of the Maldives. (Amit6).

However, there was no national flag. It is presumed that red was chosen as the real color because it contrasted with the blue of the sea. The Sultan of Maldives kept a vertical flag of two triangles, while the queen had one of three.

Since then there was also the danödöimati, which was a ribbon that surrounded the pole with diagonal black and white stripes. Precisely, the danödöimati was incorporated as a strip to the royal flags at some undetermined moment in the 19th century, at the will of the monarch.

Other Maldivian flags

Throughout this time, the flags were kept as royal banners of the king and queen, as well as others with merchant motifs. Also, the single triangle red flag with the danödöimati was the symbol for the royal guests.

Another of the symbols of that time was another vertical flag of three triangles and white, called Amaìn Dida. This used to be carried by a man in royal processions to convey the peaceful will of the monarch.

Along with that symbol there was the Maravaru, which was a large horizontal strip with a double tip that was tied at the top of two masts in the city of Malé. This used to be a symbol of port indication, because through its use signals were emitted. In addition, there was the Amaraìli, very similar, but its horizontal shape gradually tapering to a point.

Both symbols were red until the national flag was established with other models. As a result of that, they changed.

British protectorate

The form of dominion that Great Britain used in the Maldives was through the protectorate established in 1796. The sultans were always at the forefront and until the 20th century they exercised the totality of internal power.

Among the decisions that were made, historically a new flag was established in 1903. To the red flag was added the danödöimati, a vertical strip at the end of the flagpole, which was composed of black and white diagonal stripes. The new rectangular shape served to standardize the flag to that of the rest of the countries.

Flag of the Maldives. (1903-1926). (Amit6).

Incorporation of the crescent to the flag

However, in 1926 it was decided to incorporate for the first time what became the most prominent symbol of the Maldives: the crescent. Inspired by Islam, a thin white crescent facing to the left was added to the 1903 flag.

This change was made during the term of Prime Minister Abdul Majeed Didi and his choice was also inspired by flags such as the Turkish one and the feeling of emptiness that the center of the Maldivian flag had. The official sanction of this flag did not arrive until the promulgation of Sultan Mohammed Shamsuddin III, years later.

Flag of the Maldives. (1926-1953). (Old_National_Flag_of_the_Maldives.png: The original uploader was Orange Tuesday at English Wikipedia. (Original text: Orange Tuesday (talk)) derivative work: Germo).

The power of the sultan used to contravene the envoys of the Chief Minister, in charge of the government, before which the British invited to establish a constitutional monarchy. This was consummated in 1932, through the writing of a new constitution.

However, the new government status benefited an elite of British intellectuals, which generated the unpopularity of the constitutional text.

Republic of Amin Didi

Still under British rule, the sultanate in the Maldives suffered a brief interruption. Following the death of Sultan Majeed Didi and his heir, the parliament chose Muhammad Amin Didi as sultan.

However, Amin Didi refused to assume the throne, so a referendum was held to convert the protectorate from a monarchy to a republic. Following the affirmative popular response, Amin Didi was elected president.

His government promoted many changes in the social area, such as the nationalization of the fish export industry, women's rights or even the flag. Since then, the position of the crescent has shifted to the right and the central part of the flag is now framed in a green rectangle.

Maldives flag. (1953-1965). (Amit6).

President Amin Didi went to Ceylon for medical treatment, but a revolution tried to depose him. Upon returning, he was arrested and confined to an island, before which he escaped and tried to regain power, without success. Later, a referendum was held to return to the monarchy, which was approved. Despite the change, the national flag remained.

United Republic of Suvadivas

The challenge of the British protectorate of the Maldives in 1959 centered on the secession of the United Republic of the Suvadivas. This consisted of a splinter state that was constituted by the three southern atolls that had benefited the most from the British presence. Its leader, Abdullah Afif, requested support and recognition from the United Kingdom.

After years of waiting, the British finally signed a treaty with the Maldives, regardless of Afif, recognizing the Maldivian sovereignty over the new republic. The splintered atolls faced an embargo and in 1963 the republic was dissolved. For this reason, Afif had to go into exile in the Seychelles.

The flag of the United Republic of the Suvadivas was made up of three horizontal stripes of equal size. The upper one was light blue, the middle green, and the lower one red.

In the center the crescent remained, this time accompanied by a white star. White stars were added to the top right and bottom left to complete the flag.

Flag of the United Republic of the Suvadivas. (1959-1963). (Mysid).

Independence

The British protectorate came to an end on July 26, 1965, when the Maldives won its independence after an agreement signed with the United Kingdom. The agreement provided for the maintenance of military and naval benefits for the British. Immediately after independence, the national flag underwent its last modification, with the suppression of the black and white stripe at the extreme left.

Precisely, the elimination of the danödöimati can be interpreted as an adaptation of the flag to the simplicity of its use, especially in international instances.

The main one was the United Nations and its employees, who would have found it difficult to explain that in addition to red, white and green, there was also black in the national symbol.

Two years later, in 1967, the Maldivian parliament voted to establish a republic, and the following year, this decision was approved by parliament. In this way, the sultanate was ended and the Islamic Republic of the Maldives was created. However, this did not mean any reform in the country's flag, which has remained unchanged.

Meaning of the flag

The Maldivian flag, as happens with a large part of Muslim countries, is a representation of Islam in its components. The most prominent symbol of the flag is the crescent, which directly represents the Islamic faith. Also, the frame in which it is located is green, which is considered to be the color of Islam.

However, colors have other meanings as well. As is usual in vexillology, the color red represents the strength of national heroes and their sacrifice, embodied in the blood shed by their country. Instead, the color green is also represented as a symbol of prosperity, peace and the future of the Maldives.

References

1. Ahmad, R. (2001). The state and national foundation in the Maldives. Cultural Dynamics. 13 (3), 293-315. Recovered from journals.sagepub.com.
2. Maniku, H. (1986). Conversion of Maldives to Islam. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Sri Lanka Branch. 31, 72-81. Recovered from jstor.org.
3. Mohamed, N. (2005). Note on the Early History of the Maldives. Archipel, 70 (1), 7-14. Recovered from persee.fr.
4. Romero Frías, X. (1999). The Maldive Islanders, A Study of the Popular Culture of an Ancient Ocean Kingdom. Recovered from books.google.com.
5. Romero-Frías, X. (nd). Maldive Flags. Maldives Royal Family. Recovered from maldivesroyalfamily.com.
6. Smith, W. (2011). Flag of the Maldives. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. Recovered from britannica.com.