Indonesia Flag

Indonesia's flag — Sang Merah Putih (The Red and White) — is two equal horizontal stripes: red on top and white below. It is visually identical to Monaco's flag but different in proportion (Indonesia 2:3, Monaco 4:5).

Red symbolises courage and the human body; white represents purity and the human spirit. Together they represent the completeness of the Indonesian people.

The red-and-white colour scheme derives from the Majapahit Empire (13th–15th centuries), which flew a red-and-white banner. The colours reappeared in the 1928 Youth Pledge of Indonesian nationalists and were raised at Sukarno's proclamation of independence on 17 August 1945.

The proclamation flag was sewn by Fatmawati, Sukarno's wife, from cloth given by a Japanese officer. It was raised the morning of independence and is still preserved as a national relic. The constitution adopted it as the national flag.