flag of Indonesia

Indonesia’s flag was officially adopted on August 17, 1945, three days after the conclusion of World War II. It remained the national flag when Indonesia won recognition of its independence from the Netherlands in 1949.

The flag, a simple design of red and white stripes, has a long history. It was first associated with the Majapahit empire, which flourished from the 13th to the 16th century in eastern Java, and it incorporates traditional colour symbolism: red for courage and white for honesty. More recently, it was adopted in 1922 by the Indonesian Union, a nationalist organization of Indonesian students studying in the Netherlands. In 1928 the Indonesian Nationalist Party also adopted the flag. Coincidentally, the flag of Indonesia is identical, except in dimensions, to the flag of Monaco.