Four Crowns from Four Malaysian Sultans

Malaysia is a Federated Constitutional Monarchy annealed together out of thirteen states and three federal territories (the system is loosely based on that of the United Kingdom).  The monarch is elected every five years by the nine hereditary rulers of the Malay states (the remaining four states have governors who abstain from choosing the monarch and the four Federal territories seemingly also have no say).  In today’s Malaysia of parliaments and money this is all largely symbolic (although these sultans and high nobles certainly have influence and may have actual political powers which are not immediately apparent according to the letter of the law).

At any rate I bring this up not to launch into a true explanation of power and politics in Malaysia (which elude me completely), but instead to showcase the four extant crowns which remain among the nine hereditary electors.  Five of the sultans of the Malays states seemingly have eschewed crowns in favor of fancy fezzes and keffiyehs.  The remaining four crowns all seem based on nineteenth century European examples and are surprisingly ornate and attractive.  Sadly I could find out little about them, but here, at least are lovely pictures!

The Crown of Johor

The Crown of Selangor

The Crown of Kelantan

The Crown of Terengganu

I especially like the yellow/gold crown of Terengganu and I was sad that I couldn’t find a larger picture!  If anybody knows more about the magnificent traditional crowns of these four states, kindly let me know in the comments!  They are certainly regal (even if they are not well documented or described on the internet).

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