Holiday Ayo - The history of the red and white flag originates from the colors used by the kingdoms in Indonesia during the colonial era. One of them is the Majapahit Kingdom.

Apart from the Majapahit Kingdom, the Kediri Kingdom actually used red and white pennants during its leadership. Likewise with Sisingamangaraja IX from the Batak lands. He also wears red and white as the colors of his war flag.

But not just red and white, the flag is also equipped with a picture of twin white swords on a bright red base. Likewise with Sisingamangaraja XII. Furthermore, when there was a war in Aceh, the fighters also used a war flag in the form of banners in red and white.

On the back of the flag, there is a picture of a sword, a crescent moon, the sun, a star, and the text of the Holy Quran.

Furthermore, the red and white flag was also used by the Bugis Kingdom in Bone, South Sulawesi before the Arung Palakka era. The red and white flag known as Woromporang is a symbol of the power and greatness of the Bone Kingdom.

Prince Diponegoro also used red and white pennants during his struggle against Dutch colonialism. The red and white flag that is familiar to Indonesian society was then used in the nationalist movement during the resistance against the Dutch around 1928.

However, the red and white flag was banned by the Dutch at that time. After leaving the Netherlands, the idea of using the red and white flag was born again during the Japanese colonial era.

At that time, Japan made a promise of independence to Indonesia around 1944. This promise was fulfilled by the establishment of the Investigating Agency for Preparatory Efforts for Indonesian Independence (BPUPKI).

One of the discussions at the BPUPKI meeting was the use of the same flag and national anthem throughout Indonesia. From here, it was decided that Indonesia would use the red and white flag. The person who sewed the red and white flag was Fatmawati after returning to Jakarta from exile in Bengkulu.

The 1st President of Indonesia Soekarno ordered Chaerul Basri to take the cloth from the warehouse at Jalan Pintu Air to be delivered to Jalan Pegangsaan Number 56, Jakarta. The cloth will be used as the flag that was hoisted during the proclamation of Indonesian independence. The cloth is fine cotton with red and white colors.

It is 3 meters long and 2 meters wide. After that, Fatmawati sewed the cloth and it became the flag that was hoisted at the proclamation of Indonesian independence on August 17, 1945. After that, Sang Merah Putih was brought by the president, vice president and ministers who moved to Yogyakarta in 1946. The move occurred because Jakarta was not safe.

But in 1948, Yogyakarta fell into Dutch hands again. President Soekarno also tried to save Sang Merah Putih by entrusting it to his trusted aide, Husein Mutahar. For security reasons, Husein then divided the two national flags into two parts, namely the red and white colors separately in two different bags.

In 1949, when President Soekarno was in exile in Bangka Belitung, he asked for the flag back and sewed it up again. After finishing his exile in 1949, President Soekarno brought back the national flag to Yogyakarta and hoisted it at Gedung Agung on 17 August 1949.

In 1958, the Red and White flag was designated as a heritage flag and is always flown every August 17 or the commemoration of Indonesian independence day at the Merdeka Palace. However, the Pusaka Flag had to be hoisted for the last time on August 17, 1968 because it was in a very fragile condition and the colors had faded.

Since then, Indonesia no longer flies the original red and white flag, but duplicates it. The Pusaka flag is then kept in a vitrin made of flexi glass in the Pusaka Flag Room at the Merdeka Palace. The Heritage Flag was conserved by the DKI Jakarta Province Culture and Museum Conservation Center on April 21, 2003.

The aim is to clean the flag from stains and dirt, remove folds, restore torn parts, remove mold, and store it back in a rolled up state. Then, the Heritage Flag was made a National Cultural Heritage.