---
title: "Flag of Indonesia: colours and meaning"
description: "What every colour and symbol on the Indonesia flag stands for, its official 2:3 ratio, and the year the current design was adopted."
url: https://atoneplace.net/flag/indonesia/
site: "At One Place"
---

# The flag of Indonesia

**The flag of Indonesia: Two equal horizontal bands, red over white.**

Ratio 2:3 · current design adopted 1945

*[Flag drawn on the page: 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

*[Flag drawn on the page: Indonesia, Monaco, Poland]*

*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

*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.*

- **Red** (#CE1126) — Courage, and the body
- **White** (#FFFFFF) — Purity, and the soul

- **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](https://atoneplace.net/country/indonesia/)
- [The flag of Monaco](https://atoneplace.net/flag/monaco/)
- [The flag of Poland](https://atoneplace.net/flag/poland/)
- [The flag of Singapore](https://atoneplace.net/flag/singapore/)
- [Every flag with red in it](https://atoneplace.net/flag/colour/red/)
- [The flag of United States](https://atoneplace.net/flag/united-states/)
- [The flag of United Kingdom](https://atoneplace.net/flag/united-kingdom/)
- [The flag of Canada](https://atoneplace.net/flag/canada/)
- [The flag of France](https://atoneplace.net/flag/france/)
- [The flag of China](https://atoneplace.net/flag/china/)
- [The flag of Germany](https://atoneplace.net/flag/germany/)
- [The flag of Russia](https://atoneplace.net/flag/russia/)
- [The flag of Italy](https://atoneplace.net/flag/italy/)

## Sources

- The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency (https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/) [Public domain (US Government)]