The mountain shown on the flag (and the state's coat of arms) is Mount Kinabalu.

On 31 August 1963, Sabah adopted a four-striped flag (red over white over yellow over blue) with a green canton and a brown mountain – symbol of Mount Kinabalu.

[1] The second flag design was created in 1981 by the Sabah People's United Front Party (BERJAYA) state government.

It had a completely different design from the previous one: blue over white with a red triangle on the hoist.

It is similar to the Trisakti flag used by the neighbouring state of Sarawak until 31 August 1988, which was red over white with a blue triangle on the hoist.