The Malaysian flag was designed by Mohamed Hamzah, a 29 year old architect working in Public Works Deparment (JKR) in Johor Bahru, Johor.

He entered a flag design competition in 1947 with two designs which he completed within two weeks. The first design was a green flag with blue kris in the middle, surrounded by 15 white stars. The second design which was accepted to the final three was similar to the current flag but with a 5 sided star. The flag design competition attracted 373 entries and voting were made by the general public via post.

Dato' Onn Jaafar met with Mohamed Hamzah after he won the competition and suggested the star is changed to an 11 sided star to reflect the Federated Malay States and the 3 Straits Settlements. Mohamed Hamzah died just shy of his 75th birthday on 13 February 1993 in Jalan Stulang Baru, Kampung Melayu Majidee, Johor.

The Malaysian flag was approved by King George VI on 19 May 1950 and was first raised in front of Istana Selangor on 26 May 1950.

The design of horizontal lines with alternating red and white bands shared with only two other countries in the world; United States of America and Liberia.