Family research · Phase 16 of the world atlas

Flags of Maldives

A chain of low coral atolls astride the ancient Indian Ocean trade lanes between Arabia, East Africa, and the ports of India and Sri Lanka, the Maldives spent well over a millennium as a Buddhist kingdom before a traditional 1153 conversion to Islam founded a Sultanate that would outlast Portuguese intrusion, absorb a period of British protection without ever quite becoming a full colony, and only finally give up its throne in 1968 — nine political entities from an unrecorded ancient banner to today's red, green, and white national flag.

The crescent moon has marked Maldivian sovereignty in one form or another since at least the early twentieth century, migrating from a black Islamic-inscription panel to its present green field as the Sultanate modernized toward independence; the surrounding red field, by contrast, is the oldest continuously used element in this lineage, tracing back to a plain red Sultanate banner with no fixed origin date.

Scope of this page: the Maldive Islands, c. 3rd century BCE–present, nine political entities. Sri Lankan (Ceylonese) and Dutch influence over the Sultanate's external affairs from roughly the 17th through 19th centuries never amounted to direct rule and left no separate flag of its own, so it is noted within the restored-Sultanate entry rather than broken out as its own period. The 1887–1965 British protectorate is treated as a genuine nuance, not a colony: the Sultan and his government retained full internal self-rule throughout, with Britain controlling only defense and foreign affairs. No internal governing split exists within the Maldives' own borders at any point in its history. Part of a larger atlas — see the map and linked pages at the bottom.

One atoll chain, nine eras

The Maldives' own real islands, traced whole — roughly 1,200 coral islands strung across some 820 km of the Indian Ocean, shown here as the ~65 largest by area. Press play, or drag the slider, to watch who held the chain, era to era.

No internal split, and no land neighbors at all. The Maldives has never been divided into separately-governed pieces, and as a mid-ocean archipelago it borders no other country by land. What changes here is only who, if anyone, held the whole chain at once — almost always the Sultanate itself, with only two brief foreign interruptions in over 850 years.

c. 3rd c. BCE

Early Buddhist-era Maldivian kingdom(s)

Real traced coastlines for the ~65 largest islands and atolls by area; hundreds of the smallest islets are omitted for legibility. No internal partition — see the rule box above for why.

red field, green panel, white crescent — unchanged since 1965

1968 – present

Republic of Maldives (Second Republic)

RepublicIbrahim NasirSunni Islam (constitutionally exclusive)

Migration & conquest:Immigration: Bangladeshi & Indian migrant workers

Who & why: after a March 1968 referendum abolishes the restored Sultanate, Ibrahim Nasir — already prime minister and the architect of 1965 independence — becomes the first president of the Second Republic on 11 November 1968. Maumoon Abdul Gayoom succeeds him in 1978 and governs for three decades; multiparty democracy follows in the 2000s, and the country navigates the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, sea-level-rise diplomacy, and a modern tourism-driven economy into the present.

What it represents: the flag adopted at 1965 independence carries over unchanged into the Republic and is fixed in the 1968 and later constitutions: a red field for the blood of those who defended the nation, a green rectangle for peace and prosperity, and a white crescent for Islam, the state religion.

Paint guide

Proportions2:3, official since 1965.

LayoutRed field; centered green rectangle (roughly two-thirds width, five-sixths height) with a broader red margin at hoist and fly; white crescent, horns toward the fly, inside the green.

Red#D21034

Green#007E3A

Crescent, white#F4EFE1

the same red/green/crescent design, newly flown as a sovereign state

1965 – 1968

Sultanate of the Maldive Islands (independent)

Sultanate, independentSultan Muhammad Fareed DidiSunni Islam (state religion)

Ruling house:House of Huraa

Who & why: Britain grants full independence on 26 July 1965, ending the protectorate while leaving the British-leased air base at Gan (Addu Atoll) in place under a separate agreement. Sultan Muhammad Fareed Didi reigns as head of state, with Ibrahim Nasir as prime minister holding most executive power — a brief final chapter for a throne that had already survived nearly eight centuries.

What it represents: the black Islamic-inscription panel of the protectorate era is replaced by a plain green rectangle at or shortly before independence, giving the flag essentially its present form; the design is formalized as the new sovereign state's national flag in 1965.

Paint guide

Proportions2:3, as fixed at independence.

LayoutRed field, centered green rectangle, white crescent (horns toward the fly).

Red#D21034

Green#007E3A

Crescent, white#F4EFE1

red field, white-bordered black panel, white crescent

1954 – 1965

Sultanate restored (British protectorate continues)

Colony/protectorateSultan Muhammad Fareed DidiSunni Islam (state religion)

Ruling house:House of Huraa

Who & why: the 1953 republic collapses within months amid a coup and popular unrest, and the Sultanate is restored in March 1954 with Muhammad Fareed Didi eventually ascending as Sultan. Britain's protectorate arrangement, suspended in name only, continues underneath — internal government stays firmly in Maldivian hands, with London still responsible for defense and external affairs until 1965.

What it represents: the flag reverts to its pre-republic pattern: red field, white-bordered black panel, now carrying the white crescent introduced around 1953 rather than the earlier Arabic inscription — the last transitional design before the green rectangle of 1965.

Paint guide

ProportionsNo fixed civil ratio recorded; shown at 3:2.

LayoutRed field, centered black rectangle with a white border, white crescent (horns toward the fly) inside the black.

Red#D21034

Black#1A1A1A

Border & crescent, white#F4EFE1

the short-lived First Republic flag, carrying the newly added crescent

1953 – 1954

First Republic of the Maldive Islands

RepublicMuhammad Amin DidiSunni Islam (state religion)

Ruling house:House of Huraa

Who & why: reformer Muhammad Amin Didi, already the power behind the throne for years, has the Sultanate abolished and is elected the country's first president on 1 January 1953. His government introduces social reforms — including expanded education and a short-lived ban on tobacco — but food shortages and political backlash bring a coup within the year; the Sultanate is restored the following March. It is the shortest-lived entity on this page.

What it represents: the flag keeps the red field and black bordered panel of the late Sultanate era, but the white crescent moon is generally dated to this period, replacing the older Arabic calligraphy — the clearest step toward the modern design, though the precise year within 1953–54 is a best estimate rather than a fixed legal date.

Paint guide

ProportionsNo fixed civil ratio recorded; shown at 3:2.

LayoutRed field, centered black rectangle with a white border, white crescent inside the black — identical in essentials to the flag that follows the restoration.

Red#D21034

Black#1A1A1A

Border & crescent, white#F4EFE1

red field, black panel bearing the Shahada, added 1903

1887 – 1953

Sultanate of the Maldive Islands (British protectorate)

Colony/protectorateSultan Muhammad Imaduddin VISunni Islam (state religion)

Ruling house:House of Huraa

Who & why: in December 1887, Sultan Muhammad Mueenuddeen II signs an agreement placing the Maldives under British protection, administered loosely through the governor of Ceylon. Crucially, the Sultan and his ministers keep full control of internal government and law throughout — Britain manages only defense and foreign relations, and no British administrator ever governs the islands directly, unlike a true colony.

What it represents: Sultan Muhammad Shamsuddin III adds a black rectangle bordered in white to the plain red field around 1903, inscribed with the Islamic declaration of faith (the Shahada) in white Arabic script — the first securely dated modification to the historic red banner, and the direct ancestor of the black panel that carries through to 1965.

Paint guide

ProportionsNo fixed civil ratio recorded; shown at 3:2.

LayoutRed field, centered black rectangle with a white border, white Arabic Shahada text within the black, from c. 1903.

Red#D21034

Black#1A1A1A

Border & text, white#F4EFE1

plain red field, the Sultanate's historic banner, restored after 1573

1573 – 1887

Restored Maldive Sultanate

SultanateMuhammad ThakurufaanuSunni Islam (restored state religion)

Ruling house:House of UtheemuHouse of Huraa

Who & why: Muhammad Thakurufaanu leads a small band that expels the Portuguese garrison from Malé in 1573, ending fifteen years of foreign occupation; he founds a new ruling dynasty and is still celebrated each year as the Maldives' national hero on National Day. Across the following three centuries the restored Sultanate maintains its independence while acknowledging, at various points, loose Dutch suzerainty exercised through the Dutch administration of Ceylon and later informal British interest from the same base — influence over external relations, never direct rule.

What it represents: the plain red field that had marked the Sultanate before the Portuguese interlude returns as the national banner, with no further modification recorded until the black panel is added in the early twentieth century.

Paint guide

ProportionsNo fixed ratio recorded; shown at 3:2.

LayoutPlain red field, no charge.

Red#D21034

white field, green cross — the Portuguese seaborne ensign of the era

1558 – 1573

Portuguese occupation of Malé

OccupationAndré AndréRoman Catholicism (imposed, contested)

Migration & conquest:Conquered by: Portugal

Who & why: a Portuguese force, already established at Goa and along the western Indian coast, seizes Malé in 1558 after years of raiding and rivalry over Indian Ocean trade, ruling the capital through a garrison and a local proxy administration for fifteen years. The occupation is deeply resented and never extends securely over the outer atolls; it ends in 1573 when Muhammad Thakurufaanu's rebellion drives the garrison out for good.

What it represents: no distinct Maldivian flag survives this period; shown here is the green Cross of the Order of Christ on white, the ensign commonly flown by Portuguese ships and forts of the Age of Discovery era, standing in for the occupying authority rather than any local Maldivian symbol.

Paint guide

ProportionsNo fixed ratio recorded for the era; shown at 3:2.

LayoutWhite field, green Latin cross extending to the edges (Order of Christ pattern).

White#F4EFE1

Green cross#0A5C36

plain red field, an informed reconstruction of the early Sultanate banner

1153 – 1558

Maldive Sultanate (early, Islamic era)

SultanateMuhammad ibn AbdullahSunni Islam (state religion, from 1153)

Who & why: Maldivian tradition dates the conversion of the ruling Buddhist king to Islam to 1153 CE, credited to the Moroccan traveler and scholar Abu al-Barakat Yusuf al-Barbari (accounts differ on his exact origin, but the date and the conversion itself are consistently recorded in Maldivian chronicles). The king takes the title Sultan, founding the Maldive Sultanate; power passes through several ruling dynasties — including the Theemuge and Hilaalee lines — over the following four centuries, with Islam remaining the state religion ever since.

What it represents: no flag specification survives from this long early-Sultanate span; a plain red field is the earliest banner consistently associated with the Maldivian throne in later sources, and is shown here as an informed reconstruction projected back across the period rather than a documented year-1153 flag.

Paint guide

ProportionsN/A — no attested specification; shown at 3:2.

LayoutPlain red field, no charge (reconstructed).

Red#D21034

placeholder maroon field — pre-Islamic era, no flag survives

c. 3rd century BCE – 1153 CE

Early Buddhist-era Maldivian kingdom(s)

Buddhist kingdom(s)No single ruler documentedBuddhism (pre-Islamic state religion)

Migration & conquest:Immigration: Indo-Aryan settlers from the subcontinent

Who & why: settled from around the 5th century BCE by Indo-Aryan-speaking peoples from the Indian subcontinent, the islands sit astride ancient Indian Ocean trade routes linking Arabia, East Africa, and South and Southeast Asia, exporting cowrie shells, coir rope, and dried fish for well over a thousand years. Buddhism arrives by around the 3rd century BCE, traditionally linked to Emperor Ashoka's missions, and becomes the settled religion of a line of local kings until the 1153 conversion to Islam.

What it represents: no securely documented flag or banner survives from this long Buddhist-kingdom era; archaeological remains include Buddhist stupas and monasteries on several atolls, but no vexillological record. Shown here honestly blank rather than invented.

Paint guide

ProportionsN/A — no attested flag.

Reading the tags

Buddhist kingdom(s) — pre-Islamic local rule

Sultanate — Islamic monarchy, own crown

Occupation — foreign garrison, no local flag

Colony/protectorate — internal self-rule, external control by another power

Republic — elected head of state

Sultanate, independent — sovereign monarchy, full independence

Leader — the named ruler most associated with the era's start

State religion — the official/established faith, not the population's

Find the records

Family history research for Maldives lives in a different project, Record Atlas, which maps which archive actually holds the paper for a given place and era.

Search Record Atlas for Maldives →

More of the atlas

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