Thirteen blue and white stripes and a white star on red: the Morning Star is the flag of the movement for the independence of Papua.
Every fact about the flag, each with what it means.
Normal flagFIAV symbol: the form of the flag.
CivilFIAV symbol: who may fly the flag.YesIt carries the coat of arms on the cloth.The flag in the words of vexillology and heraldry.
It is a rectangular field with a 2:3 ratio with a vertical red stripe next to the flagpole and the rest divided into thirteen equal horizontal stripes.
Each element and how many of the 1,390 flags in the catalogue carry it. In yellow, the rarest.
Every date in its story, at a glance.
In the early 1960s West Papua was a Dutch colony preparing to govern itself
It was born in 1961 as the flag of West Papua
In 1962-1963 the territory passed to Indonesia and the flag stopped being official
How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.
The Morning Star flag, Bintang Kejora in Indonesian, has thirteen blue and white stripes and a white star on a red stripe. It was born in 1961 as the flag of West Papua, the western half of the island of New Guinea, and today it is the symbol of those seeking the independence of the region, which is part of Indonesia.
In the early 1960s West Papua was a Dutch colony preparing to govern itself. Its parliament, the Council of New Guinea, approved on 30 October 1961 the flag that Nicolaas Jouwe had drawn. The Dutch governor officialised it by decree of 18 November.
On 1 December 1961 it was hoisted for the first time in front of the Council building, alongside the flag of the Netherlands.
The design has not changed, but its use has. In 1962-1963 the territory passed to Indonesia and the flag stopped being official. Since then the independence movement uses it, often in a 1:2 ratio, longer than the original.
According to the most repeated explanation:
Seven blue stripes
the seven traditional territories of the region.
Red stripe
the political struggle of the Papuan people.
Morning star
hope.
Blue, white and red together
gratitude, according to Spanish Wikipedia.
On the day of its premiere, 1 December 1961, it flew beside the flag of the Netherlands and in the presence of the colonial governor.
The 2002 law on the special autonomy of Papua only allowed it to be displayed if the flag of Indonesia was hoisted higher at the same time.
In 2004, Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage were sentenced to 15 and 10 years in prison for flying it in Jayapura. Amnesty International considered them prisoners of conscience.
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Text based on the article “Morning Star flag (Wikipedia en inglés)” from the Spanish Wikipedia, published under the licence CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources consulted:
Flag image: Pumbaa80, Wikimedia Commons · Public domain.
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