Protest in Indonesia

As Indonesia’s Day of Independence creeps closer, government officials find themselves bewildered by Indonesian citizens raising the flag of a cartoon pirate alongside their country’s flag, showing their contempt rather than their patriotism.

The citizens of Indonesia have been holding in their frustration towards their government and their lack of action concerning recent issues plaguing the country.

Imdb describes One Piece as an anime created in 1999 about pirate Monkey D. Luffy as he and his crew go on adventures and fight against their oppressive world government. Luffy’s Pirate flag, referred to as a Jolly Roger, symbolises Luffy’s belief of living freely and fighting against authority. This belief has been resonating with Indonesian citizens as they start viewing their government officials, especially their president, in a similar light.

Prabowo Subianto was the former Minister of Defence of Indonesia. As of Oct. 20th, 2024, Mr. Subianto was elected president, though citizens are beginning to regret their vote since Mr. Subianto has, to this day, failed to keep many of the promises he made before he was elected. During Mr. Subianto’s campaign, he promised “Fast economic growth and significant social changes…” according to Journalist Geo Archali and Muhammad Haq of Eastasiaform. Despite these promises, the Indonesian economy and unemployment rate of young adults were both worse this past year. This had ultimately culminated in resentment of incompetent government officials similar to that of Luffy which is why Luffy’s Jolly Roger has become the new symbol of protest in Indonesia. 

While president Subianto had not made an official comment on the protest, other notable government officials have voiced their disapproval about the movement.

“There will be criminal consequences for actions that violate the honor of the red and white flag,” says coordinating Minister for Security and Political Affairs Budi Gunawa, as reported by Aljazeras’ article “Indonesians raise anime pirate flag in protest as nation marks independence”. While this comment was meant to be taken in a serious manner, most citizens barely took this comment seriously with some people like International relations Lecturer Yohanes Sulaiman stating the comment turned Gunawa into a “Laughing stock”.

At this time, Subianto still remains without comment while authorities finally start taking action confiscating people’s pirate flags. Despite this, the people of Indonesia stand firm in keeping the flag high and waving, showing their true desire for change in the country they love.

Sources

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/16/indonesians-raise-anime-pirate-flag-in-protest-as-nation-marks-independence

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3ezvj4d111o

https://eastasiaforum.org/2025/05/29/grand-promises-meet-hard-realities-in-prabowos-indonesia/

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388629/?ref_=mv_desc