moment during the
Proclamation of Indonesian Independence on 17 August 1945 The flag's colours are derived from the banner of the 13th century
Majapahit Empire. However, it has been suggested that the red and white symbolism can trace its origin to the older common
Austronesian mythology of the duality of Mother Earth (red) and Father Sky (white). This is why these colours appear in so many flags throughout Austronesia, from the
flag of Tahiti to the
flag of Madagascar. The earliest records of the red and white
panji or
pataka (a long flag on a curved bamboo pole) can be found in the
Pararaton chronicle; according to this source, the
Jayakatwang troops from Gelang-Gelang hoisted the red and white banner during their invasion of
Singhasari in the early 12th century. This suggests that even before the Majapahit era, the red and white colours were already revered and used as the kingdom's banner in the
Kediri era (1042 – ). Red and white textile colouring was available in ancient Indonesia. White is the natural colour of woven cotton fabrics, while red is one of the earliest
natural dyes, acquired from either
teak leaves, the flowers of
Averrhoa bilimbi, or the skin of
mangosteen fruits. It was not only the Javanese kingdoms that used red and white. The battle flag of King
Si Singamangaraja IX of
Batak lands bore an image of white twin swords called
piso gaja dompak against a red background. During the
Aceh War of 1873–1904, Aceh warriors used a battle flag with the image of a sword, star and crescent, sun, and some
Quranic script in white on a red background. The red and white flag of the Buginese Bone kingdom in
South Sulawesi is called
Woromporang. The
Balinese Badung (Puri Pamecutan) royal banner is red, white, and black. Prince
Diponegoro also used a red and white banner during the
Java War (1825–1830). In the early 20th century, these colours were revived by students and then nationalists as an expression of nationalism against the
Dutch. A precursor design was first seen on the cover of a Dutch magazine titled
Gedenkboek 1908-1923 run by the
Perhimpoenan Indonesia ('Indonesian Association'). Compiling 13 letters written by its anonymous members, it had a sinister hoisted flag of a red and white stripe superimposed with the head of a
banteng facing away from the hoist. The modern red and white flag sans banteng head was first flown in
Java in 1928, it was quickly prohibited under
Dutch rule. It became the flag adopted by the
Kesatuan Melayu Muda to symbolise
Malay nationalism against
European colonialism, now widely named as the
Sang Saka Malaya. Upon Indonesia's declaration of independence on 17 August 1945, it was adopted as the national flag, and has been in use ever since. After Indonesia's independence was recognized,
Monaco, which had a
similar flag, filed a complaint which was largely ignored.
Hotel Yamato incident was torn off to make an Indonesian flag at the Hotel Yamato (now
Hotel Majapahit),
Surabaya The flag featured in a well-known incident during the
Indonesian War of Independence when during the lead-up to the
Battle of Surabaya in late 1945, Indonesian youths removed a colonial
Dutch flag flying over the
Yamato Hotel, tore off the blue strip and re-hoisted it as an Indonesian flag. The hotel was subsequently renamed briefly as
Hotel Merdeka, meaning "independence hotel". File:Flag of the Dutch East India Company.svg|
Flag of the Dutch East India Company used 20 March 1602 – 1 January 1800 File:Flag of the Netherlands.svg|
Flag of the Dutch East Indies used 1 January 1800 – 27 December 1949 File:Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg|
Flag of Imperial Japan used 8 March 1942 – 17 August 1945 (3 years 5 months) File:Flag of Indonesia.svg|Flag of Indonesia used 17 August 1945 – present File:Bendera Latihan - Practice Flag.svg|Practice flag used for national flag replacement during rehearsals ==Name==