He Painted Sepang's Giant Flag With His Dad. 22 Years Later, It Means Everything

While thousands of fans watched Formula 1 cars tear around Sepang International Circuit over the weekend, one Malaysian was looking at something else.

Not the cars.

Not the racing.

But the giant Jalur Gemilang painted beside the track.

For Threads user Ady (@adyhomhome), that familiar Malaysian flag carries a memory stretching back 22 years, to a job he says he completed with his father when he was just 15 years old.

At the time, it was simply work.

Today, it means much more.

He Was Only 15 When They Painted It

Sharing the story on Threads following F1's return to Sepang, Ady said he was in Form 3 when he and his father painted the giant Malaysian flag at the circuit in 2004.

According to Ady, he found an image of the Jalur Gemilang online and showed it to his father before the pair began figuring out how to recreate it on a much larger scale.

They laid out the design, marked the lines and painted it together. Looking back, Ady described it as something that felt like an ordinary job at the time.

He probably couldn't have known that more than two decades later, the huge Jalur Gemilang would still be visible when cameras followed Formula 1 cars around Sepang.

22 Years Later, The Flag Is Still There

Formula 1's unexpected return to Malaysia in 2026 brought the flag back into view for audiences watching Sepang around the world.

The comeback itself was remarkable. F1 had been absent from Sepang for nine years, but its return immediately drew enormous interest. As Carz reported before the race weekend, nearly 100,000 tickets had already been sold, setting a new ticket-sales record for the circuit.

Ady shared screenshots from the F1 broadcast showing cars passing with the huge Jalur Gemilang clearly visible beside the circuit.

But seeing it again brought back something far more personal for him. His father, Mahadi bin Md Desa, has since passed away.

And Ady said that whenever he watches F1 now, it isn't really the speeding cars that come to mind. It's his father.

A job that once felt completely ordinary had become a physical reminder of time they spent together.

It Doesn't Look Exactly Like It Did In 2004

Interestingly, Ady also pointed out that today's flag isn't exactly how he remembers the original artwork.

He said the upper section has since been painted white, whereas the original design was intended to blend with the surrounding grass.

There was another small detail that's difficult to appreciate from television.

According to Ady, he and his father originally painted shadows around the flag to create the illusion that the Jalur Gemilang was actually waving.

He even said he'd love the opportunity to touch up the artwork again someday.

Whether that happens or not, the flag they worked on together has already lasted far longer than a 15-year-old boy doing another job with his dad probably ever imagined.

Sometimes, The Ordinary Memories Become The Important Ones

There were plenty of big stories surrounding F1's return to Sepang after nine years away.

The racing returned. The grandstands filled up. Malaysia even started talking seriously about whether the Malaysian Grand Prix itself could make a permanent comeback.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has since confirmed that he discussed a permanent Malaysian GP with Formula 1 President and CEO Stefano Domenicali, with the matter set to be considered by the Cabinet.

But Ady's story is a reminder that a circuit that's been around since 1999 carries plenty of smaller histories too. Things built, painted and maintained by people whose names most spectators will never know.

For Ady, one of those things happens to be enormous, painted beside an F1 circuit and visible to people around the world.