The flag of Indonesia
Indonesia's flag and Monaco's are the same two bands in the same order, and the entire legal difference is the shape: Indonesia is 2:3, Monaco 4:5. Indonesia raised the Sang Saka Merah-Putih at the declaration of independence on 17 August 1945; Monaco has used its bicolour since 1881. When the duplication was pointed out in 1945, Indonesia's position was that red-and-white banners had been flown by the Majapahit empire six centuries earlier. The original 1945 flag, sewn by Fatmawati Sukarno, is preserved and no longer raised — a replica is used at the annual ceremony.
Flags it gets confused with
Drawn at each flag’s own official ratio, which is itself the difference in some of these pairs.
| Flag | How to tell them apart |
|---|---|
| Monaco | Only the proportions. Monaco is 4:5, near-square; Indonesia is 2:3. Side by side the difference is obvious; individually it is not. |
| Poland | Poland is the same two bands the other way up — white over red. |
| Singapore | Singapore adds a white crescent and five stars to the red band. |
What the colours mean
- Red
#CE1126Courage, and the body - White
#FFFFFFPurity, and the soul
Flag laws usually specify a Pantone chip, a CMYK mix or just a colour name. Converting any of those to sRGB is lossy, which is why published hex values disagree.
- Ratio
- 2:3
- Current design adopted
- 1945
- Colours
- red, white
Common questions
- What does the flag of Indonesia look like?
- Two equal horizontal bands, red over white.
- What do the colours of the Indonesia flag mean?
- Red: courage, and the body. White: purity, and the soul.
- How do you tell the Indonesia flag from the Monaco one?
- Only the proportions. Monaco is 4:5, near-square; Indonesia is 2:3. Side by side the difference is obvious; individually it is not.
- When was the Indonesia flag adopted?
- The current design dates from 1945, and its official ratio is 2:3.
Related pages
- Indonesia Capital, area, population and currency
- The flag of Monaco Routinely mistaken for this one
- The flag of Poland Routinely mistaken for this one
- The flag of Singapore Routinely mistaken for this one
- Every flag with red in it
- The flag of United States Ratio 10:19
- The flag of United Kingdom Ratio 1:2
- The flag of Canada Ratio 1:2
- The flag of France Ratio 2:3
- The flag of China Ratio 2:3
- The flag of Germany Ratio 3:5
- The flag of Russia Ratio 2:3
- The flag of Italy Ratio 2:3
Sources
- The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency (Public domain (US Government))