Last modified: 2026-10-17 by 
klaus-michael schneider
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![[Flag of Sultanate of Banjar]](../images/i/id-banjar.gif)
image by John McMeekin, 15 Jan 2011The former Sultanate of Banjarmasin has now been restored as BANJAR SULTANATE (locally "KESULTANAN BANJAR" ).
Their State Flag is yellow over black in a horizontal bicolour.
John McMeekin, 15 January 2011
![[Sultan's standard of Banjar]](../images/i/id_banjar.jpg)
image by John McMeekin, 18 January 2011
A scan of the Personal Standard of the Sultan of Banjar with his Coat of Arms.
I have yet to draw this Standard, which is yellow (not golden-yellow) with a
gold frill, the details of the shield from the Arms are shown (without the
yellow edged disk, lions & shield itself) in the centre of the standard, (in the
central shield -from the Arms- a device with a gold kris, an Indonesian flag is
attached to the tip of the kris, a white rising sun with 5 golden rays on each
side of the raised kris.
The central Arms on the Banjar Standard has only 4 rays (of the sun) on each
side (not 5), also there is a gold wing (or something resembling a wing) just
below the last ray. The central motif seems to be an arm & hand clutching the
golden kris.
John McMeekin, 18 January 2011
drawing submitted by Janis Lasmanis, 29 April 2020
Drawing of Banjarmasin sultan's residence in 1843 suggests that
then there was a plain yellow flag (before 1905).
Janis Lasmanis, 29 April 2020
![[Sultan's standard of Banjar]](../images/i/id_banjar-s.jpg)
image by John McMeekin, 25 Jan 2011
This is my drawing of the Sultan of Banjar's Personal Standard, yellow with gold frill, white sun, gold rays, green ends to black emblem, gold keris with Indonesian flag.
John McMeekin, 25 Jan 2011
![[Sultan's standard of Banjar]](../images/i/id_banjar2.jpg)
image provided by John McMeekin, 1 Feb 2012
Banjar (Banjarmasin) Royal Arms & flag
The flag is in yellow with the
emblem (a gold Chinese dragon affrontee an upright sword with the Indonesian bicolour attached, to the top left are two 5-pointed stars reversed (one
point downwards) & to the right is a crescent, both gold. Eight gold "pajong"
(4 on each side), the last on each row has a crescent at the top (the
bottom one of each row). Supporters: Two gold pegasus'. Compartment, a gold
mountain ridge, below this are 2 gold "lines", below the compartement is a
gold Jawi inscription).
This emblem is in the centre of the flag, which
is larger than shown in the colour photo, & must date to 1860 when the
Sultanate was abolished by the Dutch.
![[Sultan's standard of Banjar]](../images/i/id)banjar.jpg)
image provided by John McMeekin, 1 Feb 2012
The current Royal Arms show the
central emblem of the flag in their shield (minus the Jawi inscription above,
& the Jawi date 1421 A.H. (A.D. 2000/2001) below.
Written on the
scan provided by John is:
The flag and achievement for the inauguration of
the Raja of Banjar Sultanate (2005) may be an indication that the Islamic
system was used indeed. On the other hand it contains some symbols that are
difficult to interpret as they seem to originate from a Chinese system of
symbols. It would be interesting to know more about the time and manner of
creation of these emblems.
Source: Hubert Herald webpage
![[Banjarmasin military colour #1]](../images/i/id-^banjar1.gif) image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 8 Oct 2026 |
![[Banjarmasin military colour #2]](../images/i/id-^banjar2.gif) image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 8 Oct 2026 |
Both colours were captured on 2 November 2 1865, during a skirmish at the Sungai-Kawattan River.
The left image above is based on a drawing from the Wereldmuseum in Leiden.
The 1st yellow miltary colour features a red Zulfiqar; a narrow red stripe runs along the hoist, shifted to hoist is an amulet-like object positioned directly next to it (see the detail).
Detail (see image below):
![[Banjar amulet detail]](../images/i/id-°banjar1.jpg)
image provided by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 8 Oct 2026
A black Seal of Solomon (hexagram) appears within a white circle, surrounded by black Arabic inscriptions.
The flag on right image above was captured during the same skirmish.
The image of the 2nd colour is derived from a sketch by the painter Pieter van Looy (1823–1885) and his son Pieter van Looy Jr. (1853–1930), held at the museum in Bronbeek.
The yellow flag also displays a red Zulfiqar, complemented on the hoist side by a red-and-white crescent and a red-and-white 8-point star.
The flag has a red border at the top and a white border along the bottom and the fly end.
Sources:
1. Wereldmuseum (department Leiden), filing card with archive no. RV-225-10b
2. this webpage
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 8 Oct 2026
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