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Coat of arms of Malaysia

Coat of arms

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 4, 2026
Entity authorityQ209608 ↗
Source-derived summary

The coat of arms of Malaysia (Jata Negara Malaysia) is a coat of arms comprising a shield or escutcheon, two tigers for supporters, a crescent and fourteen-point star for a crest and a motto. As the Malaysian coat of arms descended from that of the Federated Malay States under British colonial rule, it resembles European heraldic designs.

Design

The coat of arms consists of a shield guarded by two rampant tigers proper as supporters. The shield is topped by a crest consisting of a yellow crescent with a 14-point "federal star", and includes a motto, on a banner, at the bottom.

Crest

The yellow colour of the crest, a crescent and a 14-point federal star, symbolises the country's monarchy. The star crescent also represents Islam as the official religion while the federal star alone the thirteen states and the federal territories of Malaysia.

Originally, the fourteen-point star represented the original fourteen states of Malaysia, which included Singapore. It was not changed when Singapore left the Federation in 9 August 1965, but it has generally been accepted that the 14th point represents the federal territories.

Escutcheon

The escutcheon, represented by a shield, is primarily intended to serve as a representation of states unified under the Malaysian federation, and is subdivided into ten divisions.

The upper portion or chief of the shield contains five krises on a red background, representing the five former Unfederated Malay States, Johore, Terengganu, Kelantan, Kedah and Perlis.

Editorial summary

“Coat of arms of Malaysia” enters the record as coat of arms. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Coat, arms and Malaysia can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1965—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1965. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Coat, arms and Malaysia.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Coat of arms of Malaysia” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Coat, arms and Malaysia provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q209608. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1965.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Coat of arms of Malaysia”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Coat of arms of Malaysia primary sources, Coat of arms of Malaysia archive and Coat research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Coat of arms of Malaysia”?
  2. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
  3. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Coat of arms of Malaysia” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.