Flag of Indonesia
Native & traditional name: Sang Saka Merah Putih
| Flag | Indonesia (ID) |
|---|---|
| Type | National flag (national, civil, state, war) |
| Proportion | 2:3 (2:3) |
| Primary colors | red, white |
| Main symbol | None (geometric bands) |
| Arrangement | horizontal bicolor (red · white) |
| Official adoption | 1945-08-17 — Hoisted at the Proclamation of Indonesian Independence; regulated by Article 35 of the 1945 Constitution and Law No. 24/2009 |
| Region | South-Eastern Asia |
Plain-language visual description
Indonesia's national flag (Sang Saka Merah Putih) is a 2:3 rectangular horizontal bicolor divided into two equal bands of bright red on top and white on the bottom.
Construction and geometry
Proportion & symmetry: The Flag of Indonesia uses a statutory 2:3 height-to-width ratio on a rectangular field with vertical mirror symmetry. Width is 2/3 of length (2:3), divided into two equal horizontal bands of red on top and white on the bottom.
- Article 4 of Law No. 24/2009 mandates a 2:3 aspect ratio with two equal horizontal stripes—noticeably wider than Monaco's 4:5 flag and inverted relative to Poland's 5:8 white-over-red flag.
Official colors and specification system
Rather than manufacturing false RGB precision where a statute specifies dyed cloth, Pantone, Munsell, or CIE coordinates, the table below records the governing color system alongside a calibrated display hex approximation.
| Color | Official shade name | Specification system | Statutory / standard code | Display hex |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| red | Red (Merah) | statute-named | Named in statute | #FF0000 |
| white | White (Putih) | statute-named | Named in statute | #FFFFFF |
Meaning and symbolism
Documented symbolism
In Indonesian constitutional and statutory commentary (Law No. 24 of 2009), red (merah) symbolizes physical courage and the human body, while white (putih) symbolizes spiritual purity and the soul; together they form a complete human being.
Common interpretations
Traditional Javanese and Austronesian culture also connects the red and white pairing to palm sugar (gula merah) and white rice (nasi putih), the two staple ingredients of archipelago cuisine.
History and design evolution
Red-and-white banners (umbul-umbul) have deep roots in Austronesian and Javanese history, famously recorded in the thirteenth-century Singhasari and Majapahit empires as the Gula Kelapa ('palm sugar and coconut') royal and maritime standard. In the 1920s, Indonesian nationalist students in the Netherlands (Perhimpoenan Indonesia) and Java revived the red-and-white bicolor as an anticolonial emblem against Dutch rule.
In October 1928 the Second Youth Congress in Batavia (now Jakarta) adopted the Merah Putih alongside the national anthem Indonesia Raya. During the final days before the Japanese surrender in August 1945, Fatmawati, wife of founding president Sukarno, sewed the original heirloom flag (Bendera Pusaka Sang Saka Merah Putih) from two strips of red and white cotton cloth.
That flag was raised at Jalan Pegangsaan Timur 56 in Jakarta on 17 August 1945 during the Proclamation of Indonesian Independence and enshrined in Article 35 of the 1945 Constitution, with detailed dimensions and protocol codified in Law No. 24 of 2009.
Key historical milestones
- 1293Majapahit red-and-white banners: Red and white standards are used as royal and naval emblems by the Majapahit Empire in Java.
- 1928Youth Pledge Congress: Indonesian nationalist movements adopt the Merah Putih as the symbol of future independence.
- 1945Proclamation of Independence: Raised on 17 August 1945 in Jakarta and codified in Article 35 of the 1945 Constitution.
Frequently confused with
The Flag of Indonesia is commonly confused with the following national flags due to shared colors, stripe geometry, or central emblems:
Visually and structurally similar flags
Ranked deterministically across layout family (35%), color overlap and stripe order (25%), symbols (20%), aspect ratio (10%), and stripe/symmetry geometry (10%):
Sources and image-rights provenance
- Republic of Indonesia — Law No. 24 of 2009 on the Flag, Language, State Emblem, and National Anthem
- CIA World Factbook — Indonesia Flag Description
SVG artwork provenance: Constructed from statutory specifications (public-domain-statute, verified 2026-10-13, SHA-256 d44521b96e71…).