Federated Malay States
Encyclopedia : F : FE : FED : 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.
Postage stamps
While the four states issued their own postage stamps as before, there were additional issues for the Federated States as a whole.
Flag
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.
See also
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