Indonesians fly anime pirate flag in Independence Day protest

As Indonesia prepares to mark its 80th Independence Day, a new symbol of resistance has emerged – not from the pages of history, but from the world of Japanese anime.

Traditionally, the nation’s red-and-white flag adorns homes, vehicles and public spaces in the lead-up to the national holiday.

But this year, many Indonesians have chosen to raise The Jolly Roger pirate flag from the Japanese anime series One Piece in an act of defiance.

The fictional skull-and-crossbones, topped with main character Monkey D. Luffy’s signature straw hat, now decorates everything from doorways to flagpoles across the archipelago, according to the Jakarta Post newspaper, in a phenomenon that has unsettled government officials ahead of the country’s most important civic celebration.

On social media, some Indonesians decided to explain the trend. “The red-and-white flag is too sacred for us to raise right now, at a time when many people are still colonised by those in power,” one user posted on Thursday, calling the One Piece flag “the spirit of resistance against injustice” that persists in the country.