Why Indonesia's One Piece Pirate Flags Became a Protest Against Those in Power

A Straw Hat Skull Enters Indonesia's Independence Season

Indonesia's preparations for its 80th Independence Day have acquired an unexpected symbol: a black pirate flag bearing a skull in a straw hat. In the weeks leading up to August 9, 2025, the emblem from the Japanese manga and anime One Piece has appeared on homes, vehicles and flagpoles across the archipelago, entering public spaces usually dominated at this time of year by the red-and-white national flag.

Young Indonesians are among those using the flag to express frustration with government policies, economic difficulties, scarce jobs and concerns that democratic freedoms are weakening. A symbol associated with a fictional pirate crew has become a way to call for freedom and justice, prompting arguments over patriotism, public criticism and the treatment of national symbols.

Government officials have responded differently. Some have described the movement as divisive or even treasonous. Others, including President Prabowo Subianto's office and Deputy Home Affairs Minister Bima Arya Sugiarto, have treated it as creative expression that can have a place in a democracy, provided the national flag and constitution are respected.

The disagreement has consequences beyond an online debate. Police have confiscated flags and questioned people about their motives in some cases, while authorities in several provinces have threatened legal action over displays considered disrespectful to the national flag. Sellers, meanwhile, have struggled to meet growing demand for the pirate banners.

For the people displaying it, the flag offers a way to distinguish love of their country from dissatisfaction with those governing it. Their stated message is a demand for a more just and free Indonesia, expressed through an image familiar to anime fans.

Why This Particular Pirate Flag?

Eiichiro Oda created One Piece in 1997. The story follows Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirates as they search for the legendary treasure called One Piece, challenge corrupt authorities and fight for freedom. Their flag, commonly called a Jolly Roger, carries the skull wearing Luffy's signature straw hat.

The fictional crew's adventures give the image a meaning beyond piracy. For Indonesian fans using it in protest, the flag represents rebellion, hope and a pursuit of justice against oppressive powers. A person can display that familiar image and communicate political frustration without spelling out a long list of complaints.

Mural artist Radinal Muhtar explained that the story's themes of courage, resistance and fighting injustice mirror frustrations Indonesians feel about their own government. Economic challenges, limited employment opportunities and concerns over democratic backsliding have left many people, particularly the young, feeling pushed aside and unheard. Democratic backsliding means a weakening of the freedoms and protections that allow people to challenge those in power.

One social media user expressed the anger behind the choice of flag by describing the national banner as sacred and accusing those in power of keeping people under domination:

The red-and-white flag is too sacred for us to raise right now, at a time when many people are still colonized by those in power,

The sentiment spread widely online. Protesters describe their use of the pirate emblem as a call for change and a banner of hope. Their criticism is directed at the exercise of power, while their desired outcome is a fairer society.

How an Online Trend Reached Streets and Homes

President Prabowo urged citizens to proudly display Indonesia's national flag ahead of Independence Day. The pirate flag movement gathered momentum after that appeal, with some Indonesians choosing the Straw Hat Pirates' emblem as a subtle but pointed expression of dissent.

Social media helped turn individual displays into a shared public gesture. Users posted photographs and memes, while some redesigned official Independence Day logos in the style of the anime. Images circulating online encouraged further displays outside the internet, bringing the symbol to homes, vehicles and public flagpoles.

Artists and students helped spread it. In Bekasi, artist Kemas Muhammad Firdaus painted murals of the skull in a straw hat to protest government corruption and unemployment. Student groups adopted the flag as a rallying symbol, connecting it to earlier demonstrations against budget cuts and increased military involvement in civilian life.

Dendi Christanto, a flag seller in Central Java, reported a surge in orders that sometimes exceeded his capacity. Some sellers reported thousands of orders. Growing demand for physical banners, combined with repeated exposure on social media, helped make the image a familiar sight in both urban and rural areas.

The movement therefore developed through several connected activities: online sharing, artistic expression, student activism and purchases from flag sellers. Each gave more people a way to participate, whether by painting a wall, posting an image or hanging a banner outside a home.

Officials Give Conflicting Responses

Deputy House Speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad and Coordinating Politics and Security Minister Budi Gunawan were among the officials who condemned the movement. They warned that displaying the pirate flag alongside the national flag could undermine national unity and violate laws protecting state symbols. Some official responses went as far as describing the movement as treasonous.

Ahmad said security agencies had given him information alleging an organized effort to divide the country through the flag movement:

We have received information from security agencies that there are indeed [systematic] efforts to divide the nation's unity [through the One Piece movement],

Authorities in several provinces cited Law No. 24 of 2009 when threatening action against displays they considered disrespectful. The law requires the red-and-white flag to receive the position of honor. Police confiscations and questioning in some cases brought that argument into direct contact with people displaying the fictional emblem.

President Prabowo's office took a more measured position, acknowledging the flag as creative expression and a natural phenomenon in a democracy, so long as it did not diminish the national flag's significance or violate the constitution.

Bima Arya Sugiarto, the deputy home affairs minister, similarly described the trend as an expression of public expectations that officials could receive as feedback:

Regarding the One Piece flag trend, we see it as a way for people to express themselves and convey their expectations, which we accept as input,

Citizens displaying the same image have consequently encountered different messages from public officials: warnings about national unity on one side and acceptance of political expression on the other.

What the Flag Law Means for Protesters

Law No. 24 of 2009 is central to the controversy because it protects Indonesia's national symbols and governs how the national flag is displayed. Indonesian law does not explicitly ban fictional or cultural flags, but it gives the national flag precedence and prohibits acts that insult or diminish its honor.

Precedence means that the national banner must receive the more prominent or honored position when flags are displayed together. The debate therefore concerns both the right to use a protest symbol and the physical arrangement of that symbol in relation to the red-and-white flag.

Some officials have warned that flying the Jolly Roger alongside or above the national flag could be interpreted as a criminal offense, carrying up to five years in prison or a substantial fine. Legal scholars have argued for a narrower reading of the rules.

Herdiansyah Hamzah, a legal scholar, argues that a display does not violate the law as long as the One Piece flag does not exceed the national flag in height or size. He describes symbolic criticism as part of the freedom of expression guaranteed by the constitution:

Displaying the One Piece flag is a form of public criticism protected by the constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression, including through symbols,

For people putting up a banner, those different interpretations make the placement of flags a practical issue. For officials, the controversy requires decisions about how to protect the national symbol while respecting the public's freedom to criticize government.

Rights Groups Defend Peaceful Expression

Amnesty International Indonesia and other rights groups have defended the protesters. Alongside legal experts, they argue that freedom of expression is guaranteed by the constitution and that displaying fictional or cultural flags is lawful when national symbols are respected.

Rights groups and civil society organizations have called on the government to respect peaceful protest and avoid an excessive response to a symbolic act. Their concern is that treating a cartoon flag as a national security threat reinforces the very complaints motivating its use: government overreach and the erosion of democratic freedoms.

The dispute brings together two concerns that Indonesians can hold at the same time. People may value the national flag and also want room to express disappointment with their leaders. Protesters are using a different symbol to communicate that disappointment, while officials disagree over when such expression becomes disrespectful.

Food seller Andri Saputra described the demand in personal terms, connecting the freedom to express himself with the meaning he finds in the fictional flag:

We want to be free to express ourselves. The flag is just a cartoon from Japan, but it means something to us.

His words capture the movement's combination of an ordinary cultural reference and a serious political demand. The image comes from entertainment, but the concerns attached to it involve employment, accountability and the ability to speak freely.

A Shared Symbol Across Ages and Social Classes

Sociologist Bagong Suyanto described the One Piece flag movement as a broad response to feelings of exclusion, extending beyond a single age group or social class:

massive movement cutting across social classes and ages, driven by feelings of marginalization.

Suyanto connected the flag's popularity to Japanese anime's influence in Indonesia and a desire for new forms of civic engagement. Civic engagement means taking part in public life, including expressing concerns about how a country is governed. Here, participation can take the form of a banner or mural as well as a conventional demonstration.

The flag has also exposed a generational tension. Older Indonesians who remember the struggles for independence and the sacrifices involved in establishing the nation often regard the red-and-white flag as sacred. They may be wary of anything that could appear to disrespect it.

Younger Indonesians are more likely to regard the Jolly Roger as a legitimate form of political expression and a means of holding leaders accountable. Its association with a popular story makes it accessible to people who already understand the fictional crew's resistance to unjust authority.

Those differences coexist with the movement's reach across ages and classes. The symbol can carry a shared demand for freedom while still prompting disagreement about the proper relationship between protest and national ceremony.

How Pop Culture Connects with Earlier Activism

Young people elsewhere in Asia have also used popular fiction to express political dissent. In Thailand, students have adopted the Hunger Games salute and Harry Potter imagery to criticize the monarchy and government. Such references offer a creative, nonviolent way to convey frustration and can be safer than direct confrontation.

Indonesia's students have their own long history of political activism. The 1998 demonstrations that toppled President Suharto are part of that history, alongside more recent protests over budget cuts and military involvement in civilian life. The One Piece flag gives some participants another way to express demands rooted in those continuing concerns.

The relevant sequence stretches from the creation of the story to its present use in Indonesian public life:

• 1997: Eiichiro Oda created One Piece, whose pirate crew challenges corrupt authorities and fights for freedom.
• 1998: Student demonstrations in Indonesia helped topple President Suharto.
• Before the current flag movement: Students protested budget cuts and increased military involvement in civilian life.
• In the weeks before Indonesia's 80th Independence Day in 2025: The pirate flag spread online and appeared on homes, vehicles, flagpoles and murals.
• By August 9, 2025: Official warnings, police actions and defenses of freedom of expression had made the flag a subject of national debate.

The present movement connects a familiar entertainment symbol with established demands for justice and democratic participation. For its supporters, the Jolly Roger is a statement of rebellion, a demand for accountability and an expression of hope for a better future.

What Is at Stake Before Independence Day?

Indonesia's patriotic season has become a setting for debate about who gets to define respect for the country. Officials warning against the pirate flag focus on national unity and the honor of state symbols. Protesters and their defenders focus on the right to criticize government while seeking a more just Indonesia.

For artists, students, sellers and residents, the effects are concrete. Murals and banners have become vehicles for political speech. Flag makers face increased demand. Some people displaying the emblem have faced confiscation or questioning, while others have heard senior officials acknowledge their expression as public feedback.

As of August 9, whether the wave of pirate flags will fade after Independence Day or continue as a form of protest is unknown. The argument already extends beyond anime fandom to the meaning of national symbols, the limits of free expression and the role of peaceful protest in a democracy.

The movement's central demand is understandable without knowing the story of Luffy's adventures: people want their frustrations heard and their leaders held accountable. One Piece supplies the image through which those demands have become visible across Indonesia.

The Essentials

• The Straw Hat Pirates' flag spread across Indonesia ahead of the country's 80th Independence Day in 2025.
• Protesters connect its themes of freedom and resistance with concerns about corruption, unemployment, government policies and weakening democratic freedoms.
• Artists, students and social media users helped spread the symbol, while some sellers reported thousands of flag orders.
• Officials have issued conflicting responses, ranging from accusations of division and treason to acceptance of creative expression.
• Law No. 24 of 2009 protects the national flag's honored position. Some officials have warned of penalties of up to five years in prison or a substantial fine.
• Legal experts and rights groups defend symbolic protest when the national flag is respected. Police have confiscated flags and questioned individuals in some cases.
• The controversy joins Indonesia's history of student activism with a wider use of popular culture in Asian protest movements.