Official appoitnment of Andres Linholm as Chancellor to H.R.H. Raja Muda Muedzul Lail Tan Kiram

Andres Linholm is the Chancellor to His Royal Highness Raja Muda Muedzul Lail Tan Kiram, the legitimate head of the Royal House of Sulu since 1986, after the death of his father, late Sultan of Sulu, His Majesty Mohammad Mahakuttah Abdulla Kiram.

The Letters Patent of appointment was signed on March 6th, 2011 in Jolo, Sulu, Republic of Philippines by H.R.H. Raja Muda Muedzul Lail Tan Kiram and was witnessed by Datu Sagu Abirin and by Salip Jamil Aswadi. The document was notarized on March 7th, 2011 by Atty. Abdulmajid J. Astih (IBP Attorney's Roll No. 2321) Doc. no. 988, page no. 140, book no. XXXXI, series of 2011.

Genealogical chart of the Royal House of Sulu

Royal House of Sulu official coat of arms

Tierced per pale: Vert, a crescent Argent with a flame Or issuant from its interior, enclosing a five-rayed star of the second (the arms of devotion, borne also for the religious authority of the sultans as well as for the royal house of Kiram); Gules, a gateway represented as two pillars Argent set on a doorstep of the same and above, by Zulfiqar also Argent, hilt and pommel in chief Or and blades resting on the pillars (“the Gateway to Mecca”, for the Royal Sultanate of Sulu); and Vert, a Borneo roofed boat Or ensigned by a fringed umbrella Argent (for the part of Royal Sultanate of Sulu known as the territory of North Borneo).

The shield is ensigned with the songkok [ceremonial cap] of the sultan, above which on a wreath Argent and Azure for the crest is set Zulfiqar Argent, its hilt and pommel Or turned upwards, its blades enclosing a pearl Argent.

For supporters are set two sea-tigers embowed and guardant Or, langued Gules and striped Sable; that to the dexter holding in his sinister paw a keris Argent hilted Or, and that to the sinister, in his dexter paw, a spear Argent hafted Or.

The shield is surrounded with the collar of the royal order of the pearl.

The Royal robe (which is Vert, bordered twice Azure and Argent with double flames Or set on the borders’ lengthwise partition, lined Argent, corded and tasseled Or) is ensigned with the Royal crown of Sulu. Above and behind the crown, the State Gonfanon is issuant, which is represented as a traditional sail-flag [sambulayan] Vert, bearing a chief enhanced per fess Azure and Argent, and two flames Or, each charged with a smaller flame per fess Azure and Argent, issuant over the stripe.

The sambulayan is adorned with pleated edges Or instead of a fringe, and surmounted with a small standard Vert ensigned with the inflamed crescent and star emblem Or; at the sides, the sambulayan’s horizontal staff is pommetty Or and corded of the same, with small triangular flags Gules sans nombre adorning the cords.

For the motto, “TUBUH SUG SARAYAW RAYAW” is written in characters Sable on a ribbon Or, which ribbon is placed below the shield; and for the slogan, “LABI MARAYAW” is written in characters Argent on a ribbon Gules, which ribbon is placed above the Gonfanon.

Royal House of Sulu official flag

The flag of the sultanate is bright red and bears the highly stylized image of the Gateway to Mecca (which constitutes the main territorial symbol in the coat of arms of the sultanate) and below it, the State badge of the Sultanate, the keris and spear, both turned from the hoist. The canton of green bears the image of the inflamed crescent and star (shown in its full colours, that is, the crescent and the star are white and the flames are yellow) as well as two equal stripes, of blue and of white, at the hoist. Below the canton, a roundel white is placed as a representation of the pearl. The flag’s proportions are 2:3, although, when flown together with the flag of the Republic of Philippines or in other similar occasions, it may be of the proportions 1:2. The proportions of the main elements are established in two separate draughts.

Sulu Sultanate warriors

Historical background

Royal Sultanate of Sulu (Sultaniyyah Sin Lupah Sug) is an Islamic Tausug state, currently under the Republic of the Philippines, which includes many of the islands of the Sulu Sea, in the southern Philippines and several places in northern Borneo (Sabah, Malaysia).

The sultanate was founded as a theocratic state in 1457 by a Johore-born Arab explorer and religious scholar Sayyid Abu Bakr Abirin, a direct descendant of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. After the marriage of Abu Bakr Abirin and a local heiress, Dayang-Dayang (princess of the first degree) Paramisuli, he founded the sultanate and assumed the title Paduka Mahasari Maulana al Sultan Shariful-Hāshim. In the course of the following contacts with Europeans the Sultanate of Sulu was internationally recognised as a Kingdom (or a Royal Sultanate).

Once an influential power, the Sultanate faced several attempts to abolish the Sultanate (especially in 1915, when the USA imposed a highly restrictive agreement, and again in 1936, when the young Commonwealth of the Philippines decided to ignore the Sultanate’s temporal authority). However all these attempts failed to deprive either the Sultanate or its monarch of the sovereign rights and the state status. In 1962 and in 1974 the Philippine Government again officially recognised the continued existence of the Royal Sultanate of Sulu and the status of its monarch.Moreover, certain prerogatives of the Sultanate, as a genuine traditional indigenous institution, are specifically supported by a correspondent Philippine law. The current legitimate head of the Royal House of Sulu is, since 16th February 1986, H.R.H. Raja Muda Muedzul [I] Lail Tan Kiram.

H.R.H. Raja Muda Muedzul is the eldest son of the late King, H.M. Mohammad Mahakuttah A. Kiram, Sultan in the State of Sulu and all its districts and dependencies (1974–1986). Datu (Prince) Muedzul was crowned as Raja Muda (Crown Prince) of Sulu on 24th May 1974 alongside his father in Sulu, under the Philippine Presidential Memorandum Order 427, which was issued by Ferdinand Marcos, the then President of Philippines, and which stated that "the Government has always recognised the Sultanate of Sulu". Raja Muda Muedzul is the last recognised heir to the throne of Sulu by the Philippine government, which recognition has never been revoked by any of the successive governments of the Republic. H.R.H. Raja Muda Muedzul Lail Tan Kiram is the grandson of the 33rd Sultan of Sulu, H.M. Mohammad Esmail E. Kiram (1950–1973). H.M. Sultan Muwallil Wasit II (1936) was his great grandfather and Sultan Jamalul Kiram II (1893–1936) was his great granduncle. Apart of his temporal royal status, the Sultan of Sulu is the religious leader of the Tausug nation. He also is the Head of the Hashemite lineage of Kiram which enjoys particular veneration due to the descent from Muhammad. Currently all these dignities are vested in the person of H.R.H. Raja Muda Muedzul.

Presidential Memorandum Order 427 issued by H.E. President Ferdinand Marcos

Sultanate of Sulu structure, which states that Sultanate of Sulu Raja Muda (Crown Prince) is H.R.H. Datu Muedzul Lail Tan Kiram