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Indonesian Air Force

Last modified: 2008-07-26 by ian macdonald
Keywords: indonesia | air force |
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Flag of the Indonesian Air Force

 [Air Force obverse]
by Sammy Kanadi, 21 May 2000

[Air Force reverse]
by Sammy Kanadi, 21 May 2000

Motto: Swa Bhuwana Paks.a (The Wings of the Fatherland, in Kawi, an old Indonesian language. The "s." is an s with a dot below it.)
Ratio: 2:3
Colors: Background: (normal) Blue, The Emblem: Gold (except for the Indonesian map, it's in blue).
Meaning:
The Background Color:
The blue background is the air force's color, representing the Indonesan aerial territory, which the air force will defend from any aerial threat and invasion.
The Emblem:
1.Garuda bird with its spread wings represent the air force soldiers' readiness to protect the motherland
2. Arrows represent the readiness of the whole air force to force the hostile forces away from Indonesian territory
3. A shield with the whole Indonesian map represents the territory of which the air force will defend
4. 17 padi-es (raw rice) in each wreath represent the Indonesian date of independence.
5. 8 cotton seeds in each padi-es wreath represent the month Indonesia got its independence (August).
Sammy Kanadi, 21 May 2000 and Mark Sensen, 22 May 2000

Some information from Carr 1956

The blue color in the Admiralty book (1955) is sky blue and the map is golden. Was this later changed or is it a mistake in the book?
Jaume Ollé, 28 May 2000

The color is correct, based on a photo taken on Indonesia's Military Day some years ago. I drew the flag based on the Indonesian "Buku Pintar" (freely translated as "The Clever Book" - it contains anything from horoscopes to flags). The Air Force emblem on the flag is shown like the one I have drawn. But to be sure, 5 October is the Indonesian Military day, and there's always parade of military flags. Let's wait and be sure.
Sammy Kanadi, 4 June 2000

Rank Flags

 The star(s) correspond to the officer to which the flag belongs. The emblem in the canton is the air force emblem. The background color is the air force color, blue.

Air Commodore's flag

[Air Commodore's flag]
by Sammy Kanadi, 21 May 2000

 

First Marshall's flag

[Air First Marshall's flag]
by Sammy Kanadi, 21 May 2000

 

Second Marshall's flag

[Air Second Marshall's flag]
by Sammy Kanadi, 21 May 2000

 

Marshall's flag

[Air Marshall's flag]
by Sammy Kanadi, 21 May 2000

Aircraft Markings

Indonesia has three air arms - each one with its own roundel:

Jawatan Penerbangan (Aviation Div. of People's Security Army) was formed in 10 Oct. 1945 and became Angkatan Udara Republik Indonesia (Air Force of the Indonesian Republic) on 9 April 1946. Its current name Tetara Nasional Indonesia-Angkatan Udara (Indonesian Armed Forces-Air Force) was adopted on 5 Oct. 1971. Homepage at http://www.tni-au.mil.id/default.asp

The first roundel was adopted in 1946 and was use until 1949 (Cochrane & Elliott, 1998) and consisted of a disc separated to top red and bottom white and horizontal rudder stripes of red-white. See photo at http://members.tripod.com/~imogiri/aircraft/jap2.jpg

Cochrane & Elliott (1998) reported a second roundel in use in 1949-1954 as white disc with red ring (same as Danish roundel) and fin flash of vertical red-white stripes.

In 1954 it was replaced by the current roundel - a white pentagon bordered red and "national" fin flash. See photos at http://www.airliners.net/open.file/159065/L/,
and http://www.scramble.nl/mil/6/tniau/gfx/KT1B.gif.

The naval air arm - "Tentara Nasional Indonesia - Angkatan Laut" was formed on 17 June 1956 as "Dinas Penerbangan Angkatan Laut Republik Indonesia" and got its current name on 5 Oct. 1971. Its marking is basically the same as the air force but the roundel is charged with an anchor. See http://www.scramble.nl/mil/6/tniau/gfx/HU411detail370.jpg.

The army aviation "Tentara Nasional Indonesia - Angkatan Darat" was formed on 14 November 1959 as Dinas Penerbangan Angkatan Darat (Army Aviation Service) and renamed in 1974. The army homepage is at http://www.mabesad.mil.id/. The army aviation also use the same roundel but charged with a 5-pointed star.
Wheelock (1986) shows the star in gold and Cochrane & Elliott (1998) shows it in black.....and black it is.

Dov Gutterman, 17 June 2004

Fin Flash

[Fin flash of Indonesia]
by Dov Gutterman, 8 February 2000

Indonesia has used its national flag as a fin flash since 1954. However between 1949-1954 it was used in a vertical form.