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Indonesia - princely states

Former Indigenous States of Indonesia (Dutch Protectorate)

Article by Rühl (1952)

A translation of the article [Rühl (1952)], Flags of the East Indies Archipelago (1600-1942) (Vlaggen van den Oost-Indischen Archipel (1600-1942)) by D. Rühl, was made by Norman Martin around 1997:

The general public shows little interest in the study of standards and flags. As a division of heraldry, it belongs to the larger fields of history and archaeology; they were born in the sounds of battle, developed by the spirit of chivalry and the tournament as descendent of feudalism, then transmitted to the citizenry, developing from banner into national flag. Many are ignorant of the influence of military flags and standards on national flags. The revolution which took place in the former Netherlands Indies after 1945 resulting in the use of new flags and arms, excites our attention to their history and tradition.

From the wealth of facts which, though scattered in many publications, not well ordered and not widely known, was present in 1942, much was destroyed by the Japanese occupiers and the revolution and lost forever. To give a view of the forms and colors that were in general use since 1600 in the various flags and standards, the most prominent are reported. Thus we find the triangular and double triangular forms, which one also finds in old Persian and Indian flags and in common use through the ages. That standards and flags were used even in antiquity can be seen from the reliefs of the wars between the gods at Borobudur, Candi Jago and Panataran. It is also known that princes (Erlangga 928-1049) used seals on their official documents. Thus the oldest report of a red-white flag is in 1294, immediately prior to the foundation of Mojopahit. This is the ancestor of the present Indonesian flag. These colors are also reported in the chronicle Gunung Butak, which tells that the armies of Kediri carried red and white flags. The conflicts caused by the growth of Islam and the later relations with China and the West combined faith and martial prowess into an indissoluble unity in Oriental flags.

[p.137] The Koranic prohibition of symbolic representation drove Islamic art into the ornamental. The standards and flags of antiquity are covered by geometric images, prominent among them crescents and stars formed from circles, as well as the actual image of the Dulfikar, the two-bladed sword of Mohammed's son Ali. These standards are divided or bordered by stripes and inscriptions with Koranic verses which as incantations often appear repetitively on the same standard. As late as the 19th century flag of this type,with a red field, with white inscriptions sewed on the flag, was still in use. The sword can be found in old flags of Java, Bantam and Aceh. Much has already been written concerning the development and use of the crescent. The crescent, i.e. the waning (not the waxing) moon with a 5 pointed star (Jupiter, the lucky star) inside the horns was used by the Turks centuries before the conquest of Constantinople (May 29, 1453) and was not borrowed by them from the Gree