Flag of Sulu Sultanate before 1899

I made what is probably the most complete digital recreation of a pre-1899 flag of the Sulu Sultanate. There are two versions, one without the flowers on the left edge, and the other with the flowers.

This flag is based on the version found in the Museo Naval de Madrid (Naval Museum of Madrid) as mentioned in ULR #3 in the URL reference list below. I made this in Adobe Illustrator. All the curves of okir, okil or ukkil" (probably from the Malay word ukir, which refers to carved out decorations) section of the emblem, the floral pattern motifs, are made out of parts different sizes circles. Customed curve lines are only present in the box section in the centre of the emblem. This box section is said to represent the doors of Mecca.

My point of references are a collection of sulu flags by a researcher and vexillologist who identify him/herself only by his/her email address, paddpao@gmail.com, on who of his/her websites, http://www.royalpanji.net and http://www.webalice.it.

This is his description on his websites:

I'm a researcher and vexillologist, i 'm a member of many vexillological Associations and groups like C.I.S.V - Italian Center of Vexillological Studies , i studied flags and symbols since 1990 , i'm particularly interested on Bangsamoro flags and symbols and Moro Sultanate flags and symbols too; i have written some different articles for various magazines, bullettins and newspapers on these topics.
I love Bangsamoro history, art and culture , that's the reason why i started my projects and built my sites.
You can contact me at the following adress:
paddpao@gmail.com
Suggestions, comments and corrections are welcome

Both of which are currently inactive. However you can view the archived webpages below:

As seen in the links, there are many versions of the flag. The references I used specifically are below:

Found in 'FLAGS OF SULU BEFORE 1899 - 3' page, URL#3. The emblem in my recreation is almost wholly refferred to this, especially the okir/okil/ukkil on the top and bottom of the box, and the size of the box. The purple flag is a faded red of old flags.

Found in 'FLAGS OF SULU BEFORE 1899 - 2' page, URL#2.

Found in 'FLAGS OF SULU BEFORE 1899 - 3' page, URL#3. The small okir/okil/ukkil inside of the box of the emblem in my recreation uses this as reference. In this version,a buffalow is used instead of a circle.

Found in 'FLAGS OF SULU BEFORE 1899 - 4' page, URL#4.

Found in 'FLAGS OF SULU BEFORE 1899 - 7' page, URL#7.

Found in 'FLAGS OF SULU BEFORE 1899 - 6' page, URL#6.

The last reference is from the catalogue written in 1909 by Don Manuel Gonzales Simancas as described in the website. This is also found in the following website: http://miniaturasmilitaresalfonscanovas.blogspot.com/2011/11/banderas-y-estandartes-del-cuartel-de.html#google_vignette. In the caption of the image within the image itself states 'Bandera Malaya'. This is Spanish for "Malay Flag". 'Malaya' here is not a reference to the former modern nation state, Federation of Malaya, a predecessor of Federation of Malaysia,.In this century Spain used the term 'Malaya', or 'Malay' in English, to refer to Malay-speaking region of Southeast Asia, i.e. the Malay Archipelago or Nusantara as we call it here, that includes the what is now Southern Philippines. The Sulu may speak Sulu in their daily life, but the royal courts could speak Malay prior to Western colonialism, they did communicate in Malay with surrounding Malay Kingdoms, and also used Malay in written agreements even with the UK. 'Bandera' seems to be very close to the Malay word for flag, 'bendera', because the Malay word for flag is a loan word of Portuguese, 'bandeira', through their influence on the Malay language upon invading Malacca. Both Spanish and Portuguese are Romance languages, i.e. evolved from Latin.

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Flag of Sulu Sultanate before 1899

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