The Merlion

In front of you is Singapore's most famous symbol, and one of its youngest. The Merlion is no ancient creature: it was designed in 1964.

1A Malay legend

Its lion's head refers to the city's name. According to the Malay Annals, a chronicle written centuries after the events, Prince Sang Nila Utama landed on the island of Temasek and saw a strange animal with a red body and a black head.

He was told it was a lion, and he named the island Singapura, "lion city" in Sanskrit. There have never been lions in Singapore, so the animal is often thought to have been something else, perhaps a tiger.

The fish tail evokes the city's past as a fishing village and its old name, Temasek, which is usually linked to the sea.

2A logo turned statue

The Merlion was designed by Alec Fraser-Brunner, curator of Singapore's aquarium, as an emblem for the tourism board. The statue was sculpted by Lim Nang Seng: it is 8.6 metres tall and weighs around 70 tonnes. Lee Kuan Yew unveiled it on 15 September 1972. In 2002 it was moved about 120 metres to this spot, because a new bridge had blocked its view of the bay. In 2009 it was struck by lightning.

3What to look for

• The cub: a small Merlion, about two metres tall, behind the big one.
• The scales on the fish body.
• The view across the bay, with Marina Bay Sands opposite.