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Indonesia: Naval Jack

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by Mark Sensen, 21 May 1998

Naval Jack
Civil Jack

See also:

Naval Jack

The Indonesian jack is a simple flag with nine alternating red and white stripes. Why nine red and white stripes? Haven't got a clue; however, many jacks are based on earlier versions of a national flag (e.g. the Dutch jack) so I'm wondering if this one isn't perhaps rooted in Indonesian history. Could it be an independence-movement flag, for instance? Anybody know?
Tom Gregg, 29 January 1997

According to Barraclough and Crampton [Flags of the World, 1978] it was the flag of the Majapahit empire.
Also the VOC (Dutch East Indies Company) used flags red-white-blue with 6, 9, 12. etc. stripes.
Mark Sensen, 31 January 1997

The [national] flag of Indonesia is based on the flag of the Majapahit Empire on Java at the end of the 13^th century. This had nine stripes red and white, and is nowadays used as jack.
Mark Sensen, 21 May 1998

Civil Jack

Following the Dutch tradition, different variants of the jack are used by the navy and civilians respectively. The naval jack has nine tripes; the civilian jack has eleven.
Miles Li, 7 July 1999