Indonesia Banget #24: The Flag Of Our Country

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This is the second year of Indonesia Banget, I would love to thank everyone who keeps coming back to read bits of Indonesia. I am not an expert of my own country, but by writing this monthly post, my nationalism increases bit by bit. There are so much to be proud of from this country.

The first post I ever made for this monthly post is called 17 Agustusan where children are competing in many competitions as a way to celebrate our Independence Day. Last year I posted history of our struggle to gain Independence in a post called The Day We Proclaimed Our Independence. This year, I will share about the flag we have been using since 17 August 1945 (the day we gained our freedom from colonialism)

Majapahit Kigdom Army

The colour of Indonesian Flag are Red and White. Based on wikipedia  The color red-white has been used since Majapahit Kingdom. Throughout our history, many kingdoms had used red-white flag as their symbol, such as Kediri Kingdom and Bugis Bone Kingdom. Even the great Pangeran Diponegoro (Prince Diponegoro) used red-white symbol when fighting against Dutch army.

The Red-white flag was then relived by the intelligent youth in 1928. This youth organization was college students who tried to free Indonesia from Dutch colonialism. During the colonialism, the flag was banned from being hoisted. The flag was finally used when President Sukarno proclaimed our independent.

We can also find stories of how the heroes of our country ripped-off the blue part of Dutch flag during the war. It is said that the blue part represented the aristocracy of blue blood. The red part represented the blood that the people of Indonesian had shattered to gain their independence and the white to represent the pureness of Indonesia.

Indonesia Banget #13 – The Day We Proclaimed Our Independence

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Today is the most important day in Indonesia history, 66 years ago, the fathers of our nation proclaimed our independence. On August 17, 1945, we were no longer living under other country’s order.

Last year, I started Indonesia Banget monthly post as a way to share Indonesia to anyone who doesn’t know much about Indonesia. I started it with how we celebrate this special day. This year, I want to share a glimpse of the struggle and the fight that our heroes had endured to reach the most historical day in Indonesia.

First, this video shows the moment when Soekarno read the Proclamation of the independence of Indonesia , he was accompanied by Mohammad Hatta. Soekarno and Hatta were our first president and vice president. When the read this, they were not yet the president and vice president.

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