Every Day Is Special: August 17 - Flag Day in Bolivia and Indonesia

August 17 - Flag Day in Bolivia and Indonesia

Posted on August 17, 2019

The importance of a nation's flag can be small for some people or times but huge for other people and times. In a battle, a flag can not just help soldiers have high morale, but it can also help soldiers identify allies and enemies on the field, or sailors on the sea. (Has there been trickery with battle flags? Probably!) Hoisted on a high hill or important building, a flag can cause people to have hope - or despair. Whether proudly waved or burned, a flag can symbolize a nation - its land or its people or its government.

Today, August 17, is Independence Day in Indonesia (see link in "Also on this date," below) - and it is also this Asian nation's Flag Day! This is the anniversary of the day in 1945, when it was introduced by being flown as the Indonesian Declaration of Independence was read in Jakarta.

August 17 is Bolivia's Flag Day, because that South American nation's flag was created on this date in 1825, eleven days after Bolivia declared its independence.

Here are some interesting facts about these flags:

Indonesia's flag looks almost identical to the Flag of Monaco, although they have a bit of difference in the ratios of their dimensions. (A flag can be really large, medium size, or teeny - or any size in between - but the ratio of the shorter side to the longer side should stay the same. In the Indonesian flag's case, the ratio is 2:3, which is the same as 4:6. If the shorter side were two inches, the longer side would be three inches; if the shorter side were four inches, the longer side would be six inches. Monaco's flag has a ratio of 4:5.)

If Indonesia were ever to have a battle with Monaco (which has never happened and will never happen!), the soldiers would be really confused!

When Indonesia first declared independence and flew its flag, Monaco filed a complaint (not sure where?!), but apparently that complaint was ignored (not sure by whom?!)

Indonesia's flag also looks really similar to Poland's flag, but the colors are reversed.

Unlike Monaco's and Indonesia's flags,
Poland's flag has the red stripe on the bottom.

Red and white banners in Indonesia go way back, by the way. It's not like this nation was copying other nations!

When Indonesians wanted to be independent of the Netherlands, some students and other nationalists made red and white flags like those in their people's past - but the Dutch ruled that flying a red-and-white flag was illegal!

Well, during Indonesia's War of Independence, some young people took a colonial Dutch flag flying above a hotel, ripped the blue stripe off the bottom of the flag, and then flew the altered flag. After that famous incident, the hotel changed its name to Independence Hotel.

Bolivia may be the only nation with two completely different "dual" flags. In addition to the horizontal tricolored flag adopted in 1851...

...there is also the Wiphala, a square emblem or flag that represents the native peoples of the Andes. This 7-by-7 patchwork has seven colors arranged so that diagonal stripes appear. The seven colors are yellow, orange, red, purple, blue, green, and white. The 2009 Bolivian constitution gives this ancient design status as a second flag.