(http://puadede.com/v1/sejarah-bendera-sabah/#)
- 1704 : Sultan of Brunei cedes the lands east of Marudu Bay to the Sultanate of Sulu.
- 1763 – 5 Mar 1775 : Sultan of Sulu cedes Balambangan Islands and the Sabah peninsula to British East India Company; Balambangan is renamed Felicia Island.
- 1775 – 15 Jul 1946 : Formally under the sovereignty of the Sultan of Sulu(but from 1881 under British rule [see Philippines]).
- 1803 – Nov 1805 : Second British attempt to settle Balambangan.
- Nov 1865 – 1866 : Failed American Trading Company settlement named Ellena in North Borneo near the mouth of the Kimanis River.
- 26 Aug 1881: British North Borneo Charter Company rule.
- 12 May 1888 : British protectorate (State of North Borneo)
- 18 Jan 1942 – 10 Sep 1945 : Japanese occupation; part of Boruneo Kita (North Borneo)(Brunei, British North Borneo, Sarawak and Labuan). In May 1942 British Borneo divided into 4 Shu (provinces/states)10 Sep 1945 – Jan 1946 Australian military administration.
- Jan 1946 – 15 Jul 1946 : British military administration.
- 15 Jul 1946 : British crown colony (British North Borneo [incl. Labuan]).
- 16 Sep 1963 : Joins Federation of Malaysia.
- 1763 – 1775 Alexander Dalrymple (b. 1737 – d. 1808)
- 1773 – 5 Mar 1775 John Herbert -Resident
- 1803 – Nov 1805 Robert Townsend Farquhar (b. 1776 – d. 1830)
- Nov 1865 – 1866 Thomas B. Harris (b. 1826? – d. 1866) + Joseph W. Torrey (titled Rajah of Ambong and Marudu)
- 29 Dec 1877 – 26 Aug 1881 Alfred Dent (b. 1842 – d. ….)
- 26 Aug 1881 – Apr/May 1882 Gustav Freiherr von Overbeck (b. 1831 – d. ….)
+ Richard Charles Mayne
+ William Henry McLeod Read
- Apr/May 1882 – 1893 Sir Rutherford Alcock (b. 1809 – d. 1897)
- 1893 – 1903 Richard Biddulph Martin (b. 1838 – d. 1916)
- 1903 – 1909 Sir Charles James Jessel (b. 1860 – d. 1928)
- 1909 – 14 Sep 1910 William Clark Cowie (b. 18.. – d. 1910)
- 1910 – 1926 Sir Joseph West Ridgeway (b. 1844 – d. 1930)
- 3 Feb 1926 – 15 Jul 1946 Sir Neill Malcolm (b. 1869 – d. 1953)
- 26 Aug 1881 – 1887 William Hood Treacher (b. 1849 – d. 1919)
- 1887 – 1888 W.M. Crocker
- 1888 – 1895 Charles Vandelleur Creagh (b. 1842 – d. 1917)
- 1895 – 1900 Leicester Paul Beaufort (b. 1853 – d. 1926)
- 1900 – 1901 Hugh Charles Clifford (b. 1866 – d. 1941)
- 1901 – 1903 Ernest Woodford Birch (b. 1857 – d. 1929)
- 1904 – 1911 Edward Peregrine Gueritz (b. 1855 – d. 1938)
- 1911 – 1912 Francis Robert Ellis (b. 1849 – d. 1915)
- 1912 James Scott Mason (b. 1853 – d. 1912)
- 1913 – 1915 Cecil William Chase Parr (b. 1871 – d. 1943)
- 1915 – 1922 Aylmer Cavendish Pearson (1st time)(b. 1876 – d. 1926)
- 1922 – 1925 Sir William Henry Rycroft (b. 1861 – d. 1925)
- 1925 – 1926 Aylmer Cavendish Pearson (2nd time)(s.a.)
- Oct 1926 – 16 Dec 1929 John Lisseter Humphreys (b. 1881 – d. 1929)
- 1930 – 1933 Arthur Frederick Richards (b. 1885 – d. 1978)
- 1934 – 1937 Douglas James Jardine (b. 1888 – d. 1946)
- 1937 – 18 Jan 1942 Charles Robert Smith (1st time) (b. 1887 – d. 1959)
- (Japanese prisoner 18 Jan 1942 – Aug 1945)
- 1941 – 1942 Kiyotake Kawaguchi (b. 1892 – d. 1961)
- 1942 Yoshitake Tsuda
- 11 Apr 1942 – 5 Sep 1942 Toshitame Maeda (d. 1942)
- 5 Sep 1942 – 26 Dec 1944 Masataka Yamawaki (b. 1884 – d. 19..)
- 26 Dec 1944 – 10 Sep 1945 Masao Baba (d. 1947)
- 16 Sep 1963 – 16 Sep 1965 Tun Mustapha Harun (b. 1918 – d. 1995)
- 16 Sep 1965 – 16 Sep 1973 Datuk Pangeran Ahmad Rafai (b. 1907)
- 16 Sep 1973 – 28 Jul 1975 Tun Mohd Fuad Stephens (b. 1920 – d. 1976)
- 28 Jul 1975 – 12 Oct 1977 Datuk Mohamad Indan Kari (b. 1921) (from 197., Tun Mohd Hamdan)
- 12 Oct 1977 – 25 Jun 1978 Tun Ahmad Koroh (b. 1925 – d. 1978)
- 27 Jun 1978 – 31 Dec 1986 Tun Datuk Mohamad Adnan Robert (b. 1917 – d. 2003)
- 1 Jan 1987 – 31 Dec 1994 Tun Mohamad Said Keruak (b. 1926 – d. 1995
- 1 Jan 1995 – 31 Dec 2002 Tun Sakaran Dandai (b. 1930)
- 1 Jan 2003 – now Datuk Ahmadshah Abdullah (b. 1946)
- Datuk Seri Panglima Juhar bin Mahiruddin