Flag: Brunei

A yellow flag with white and black diagonal stripes and a red crest. Brunei, formally Brunei Darussalam ("Brunei, Abode of Peace"), is a country of about 5,800 square kilometres, tucked into the Malaysian state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo. It is ruled by a Sultan, has Malay as its official language, is mostly Muslim, and is wealthy from oil and gas. The name is said roughly "broo-NYE".

Each part of the flag has a meaning. Yellow is the royal colour of the Sultan. The two diagonal stripes, white above black, stand for the two senior traditional chief ministers (called wazirs) who served the ruler. The red crest in the centre is the national emblem: a crescent for Islam, a small parasol for royalty, two upraised hands for the state's care of its people, and an Arabic inscription meaning "Always in service with God's guidance", with the country's name on a scroll underneath.

The emoji is drawn at tiny size, so on many phones you will make out the yellow field, the two stripes and a red blob in the middle; the crescent and hands only show when the flag is enlarged.

What does it mean when someone sends 🇧🇳?

They are pointing to Brunei: a person, a place or a trip. After a name in a profile it means "I'm Bruneian" or "I live there". Next to ✈️, a hotel or a date it means a trip to or from Brunei. Around 23 February, Brunei's National Day, it carries greetings and pride, and during the Southeast Asian Games or a football match it is simply support for the Bruneian side. It also turns up beside Bruneian food, such as the sago paste ambuyat, or beside a photo of the gold-domed mosques of the capital, Bandar Seri Begawan.

If what you received looks like the two letters BN in little boxes, the sender did send this flag. Flag emoji are built from two letter codes, and a device that has no flag pictures shows the letters instead; many Windows apps do this as of 2026.