Flag of West Papua
Encyclopedia
Netherlands New Guinea
Netherlands New Guinea refers to the West Papua region while it was an overseas territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands from 1949 to 1962. Until 1949 it was a part of the Netherlands Indies. It was commonly known as Dutch New Guinea...
(1949–1962) to the Flag of the Netherlands
Flag of the Netherlands
The flag of the Netherlands is a horizontal tricolour of red, white, and blue. Since 1937, the flag has officially been the national flag of the Netherlands and of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.-Description:...
. It was first raised on 1 December 1961, and fell into disuse on 1 October 1962, when the territory came under administration of the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority
United Nations Temporary Executive Authority
The United Nations Temporary Executive Authority / United Nations Security Force in West New Guinea was established during October 1962 in accord with Article two of the New York Agreement to administer the colony of West New Guinea until the 1st May 1963.-History:Western New Guinea became the...
(UNTEA).
Although the flag is commonly used today by the Free Papua Organization as a nationalist
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
and pro-independence symbol, such an interpretation was disavowed by the Dutch authorities at its creation. Under Papua's Special Autonomy Law ratified in 2002, the flag may be raised in Papua so long as the flag of Indonesia
Flag of Indonesia
The national flag of Indonesia, which is known as Sang Saka Merah-Putih or Bendera Merah-Putih or simply Merah-Putih in Indonesian, is based on the banner of the 13th century Majapahit Empire in East Java...
is also raised and it is higher than the Morning Star flag. The flag consists of a red vertical band along the hoist side, with a white five-pointed star in the center.
History
After territorial elections in January 1961 a New Guinea CouncilNew Guinea Council
The New Guinea Council was a unicameral representative body formed in the Dutch colony of Netherlands New Guinea in 1961. The council was inaugurated on 5 April 1961 with 28 council members, 16 of whom had been elected in elections held during January 1961....
consisting of 28 members were sworn into office by Governor Dr. P.J.Platteel on 1 April 1961 and the Council's inaugurations on 5 April 1961 were attended by Australia, Britain, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand and other Pacific Forum nations with exception of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. An emergency session of this Council on 19 October 1961 in response to news that the Hague was considering transferring the West New Guinea territory first to United Nations and then Indonesian administration; the Council appointed a National Committee to draft a Manifesto expressing the desire for independence, and to design a flag and anthem
Hai Tanahku Papua
Hai Tanahku Papua is an unofficial anthem of West Papua.-History:The anthem was composed by the Dutch missionary Rev. Izaak Samuel Kijne during the 1930s....
commensurate with this desire. The design of the flag is credited to Nicolaas Jouwe
Nicolaas Jouwe
Nicolaas Jouwe is a Papuan leader who was elected vice president of the New Guinea Council that governed the Dutch colony of Netherlands New Guinea. As the president of the New Guinea Council was the Dutch civil servant Frits Sollewijn Gelpke, Jouwe was the highest ranking Papuan politician in the...
. The full New Guinea Council endorsed these actions on 30 October 1961 and the first Morning Star flag was presented to Governor Platteel on 31 October 1961.
The Dutch authorities rejected the Morning Star flag as a national flag (nationale flag) but accepted it as a territorial flag (landsvlag) on November 18. Wary of Indonesia's reaction, they told the Council not to raise the flag before December, because the status of West New Guinea was still being debated in the United Nations General Assembly
United Nations General Assembly
For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
. The official raising of the flag took place on 1 December 1961 with National Committee Chairman Mr Inury. Although the Manifesto was not a declaration of independence
Declaration of independence
A declaration of independence is an assertion of the independence of an aspiring state or states. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another nation or failed nation, or are breakaway territories from within the larger state...
, and the flag raising did not indicate any transfer of sovereignty, such misconceptions are tacitly encouraged by Papuan nationalists.
Modern use
Jouwe was a member of the Council, and after the transfer of sovereignty of West New Guinea to Indonesia, he remained in the Netherlands as an advocate of the Free Papua MovementFree Papua Movement
The Free Papua Movement is a militant organisation established in 1965 to encourage and effect the violent overthrow of the current governments in the Papua and West Papua provinces of Indonesia, formerly known as Irian Jaya to secede from Indonesia, and to reject economic development and...
, a militant organization demanding independence from Indonesia. To this day, the Morning Star is flown by advocates in the Netherlands and Vanuatu
Vanuatu
Vanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.Vanuatu was...
. Special ceremonies take place on December 1 of each year, to commemorate the first flag raising in 1961. The flying of the Morning Star was a source of controversy over alleged human rights abuses by Indonesian authorities. Two Papuan men, Filep Karma
Filep Karma
Filep Jacob Semuel Karma , commonly known as Filep Karma, is a Papuan independence activist currently imprisoned for raising the Flag of West Papua in Jayapura, the capital of Indonesia's Papua Province...
and Yusak Pakage were sentenced to 15 and 10 year sentences respectively for raising the flag in an illegal manner in Jayapura
Jayapura
Jayapura City is the capital of Papua province, Indonesia, on the island of New Guinea. It is situated on Yos Sudarso Bay . Its approximate population in 2002 was 200,000....
in 2004. Pakage was released in 2010, having served five years of his term. Karma remains imprisoned and has alleged abuse at the hands of prison authorities. Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
considered both men prisoners of conscience
Prisoner of conscience
Prisoner of conscience is a term defined in Peter Benenson's 1961 article "The Forgotten Prisoners" often used by the human rights group Amnesty International. It can refer to anyone imprisoned because of their race, religion, or political views...
and named Karma a 2011 "priority case."
Sources
- Peter D. King, West Papua & Indonesia Since Suharto: Independence, Autonomy, or Chaos (ISBN 0-86840-676-7), p. 31-32
- Richard Chauvel, Centre of Southeast Asian Studies Working Papers - Working Paper 121: Essays on West Papua, Vol. 2
- West Papua Information Kit - repository of reports and historical records