National University of Singapore

Last modified: 2006-08-05 by ian macdonald
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image located by Herman Felani, 25 June 2005

Source: http://www.nus.edu.sg/centennial/celebrations/index.htm#flag

• Description

See also:

• Singapore
• Singapore: Index of all pages

As part of the centennial celebrations of tertiary education in Singapore (with the King Edward VII Medical College established in the colony of Singapore in 1905), the National University of Singapore has finally adopted a flag for itself. The flag's image, its description and symbolism is presented at the following site: http://www.nus.edu.sg/centennial/celebrations/index.htm#flag.

The symbolism as explained on the NUS website is:
The NUS flag is a composition of the University's vibrant corporate colours of golden orange and blue, with the NUS logo emblazoned across the centre. The NUS golden orange denotes ascendancy, vibrancy and vitality while the NUS blue represents dignity, timelessness and endurance. The main design element is the graceful sweep of a dynamic curve which rises upward and forward. The deliberate flowing movement of the arc intends to express the following visual ideas:
* The vibrancy of NUS – as the orange spreads outward and forward
* The sweep of the curve suggests the rise of a powerful wave, paralleling NUS' boldness in rising to new challenges and opportunities
* The breaking away from the straight lines and boxes of most conventional flag designs hints strongly at NUS' breaking new ground as it moves forward as a global knowledge enterprise.

The Arms of NUS were simplified to the present design as seen on the flag. The original depiction of the Arms had the lion in its proper colours, although I'm unsure if there are letters patent for it. There is one however for the other university in Singapore, the Nanyang Technological University, of which letters patent and description is presented on http://www.ntu.edu.sg/publicportal/about+ntu/about+us/coat+of+arms.htm that says that their lion is identical to the one on NUS's.

Images and commentaries on the 'evolved' Arms of NUS are available at http://www.nus.edu.sg/identity/intro/evolution.htm. It would probably have been fine if NUS did as what Australia did to the Commonwealth Arms which is to use a simplified stylised version for monochrome depiction only.

Herman Felani, 25 June 2005