Austrian-born German chemist who devised and built an ultramicroscope in 1903. The microscope's illumination was placed at right angles to the axis. (In a conventional microscope the light source is placed parallel to the instrument's axis.) Zsigmondy's arrangement made it possible to observe particles with a diameter of one 10-millionth of a millimetre. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1925 for the elucidation of heterogeneity of colloids.
Red and white are the traditional colours of South East Asia. The blue canton recalls the British Empire and represents unity. Yellow is the colour of the Sultans of Malaysia. Effective date: 16 September 1963.