But also lining some streets are yellow flags with a black and red cross and a five-pointed crown at the centre.

The latter, known as the Kingdom of Sarawak flag, was designed by James Brooke and signified the state as a British colony. It was flown from 1946 to 1973, meaning that it remained in use even 10 years after Malaysia was born.

The yellow background is said to represent the Malays and the red and black lines represent the Chinese and Dayak communities. The crown symbolises the Rajah of Sarawak and its five points stand for the five territorial divisions of the time.

Parti Aspirasi Rakyat Sarawak president Lina Soo said many Sarawakians would still fondly associate the crown flag with their first chief minister, Stephen Kalong Ningkan.

“He could not remain as chief minister after three years due to a constitutional crisis, but we still connect this flag with Ningkan,” she told FMT. “To us, this flag is symbolic of the injustice at that time.”

Despite two amendments to the flag since then, the crown flag is recognised as a former state flag by law.

“This flag is much loved by a lot of Sarawakians. It is legitimate to use it to symbolise our struggle,” Soo said.

She added that the issue of gazetting July 22 as Sarawak Independence Day remained a topic of hot debate, with some quarters saying the state’s independence was a myth.

However, she added, recognising today as a gazetted public holiday was still a significant step towards going beyond internal self-governance.

“It doesn’t matter if we are not independent yet. We will continue to struggle and negotiate with the federal government and we hope that one day we will have a peaceful process for self-determination.”

Francis Siah, who heads the Movement for Change Sarawak, said the act of raising the crown flag in current times was a sign of protest against the state’s move to join the Federation of Malaysia in 1963.

He added that the flag was also a significant sign of people’s opposition to former Sarawak leaders who led the state into being part of Malaysia.

“There are pro-independence groups here who are adamant that joining the Federation of Malaysia was a bad move by Sarawak and that they prefer going back to the Kingdom of Sarawak,” he said.

Siah claimed that the sentiment in favour of leaving Malaysia had grown over the years in both Sarawak and Sabah.

“People may not say it outwardly, but on the inside, their emotions have built up. The momentum is very high now,” he said.

According to Siah, some state leaders were also unhappy with the Perikatan Nasional-led (PN) government.