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Dayaks, Indonesia

image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 14 April 2009

The flag

The Flag

At http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dayak_people it is written:

The Indonesian Dayak homeland has no official status. The majority of the Indonesian Dayaks is concentrated in the Province of West Kalimantan (formerly Borneo) where they are the largest ethnic group constituting 44 % of the total population. The "capital" of the Dayaks is Pontianak. Other major town is Singkawang. The Dayaks had an autonomous state (1946-50) called Dayak Besar (Groote Dayak - Great Dayak) within the United States of Indonesia (Negara Indonesia Serikat) but after that the autonomy for them was denied, which led to rebellions and sporadic unrest. The Indonesian authorities were long refusing to recognize the Dayaks' native religion - Kahanrigan and classified them as atheists, which in 1965 brought heavy persecution to them, as they were suspected to be a Communist sympathizers. Later, the Dayaks resisted violently the Indonesian efforts to resettle a large numbers of Javanese and Madurese immigrants in Kalimantan and the policy of uncontrolled logging causing the deforestation of Dayak homeland and fueling the nationalistic sentiments among the Dayaks of Indonesian part of Kalimantan.

James B. Minahan (Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations - Ethnic and National Groups Around the World - volume II) presents:
"The Dayak national flag, the flag of the national movement in Indonesia, is a horizontal tricolor of red, yellow and blue."

There is no other evidence (known to me) corroborating this claim. Could this flag be based on on the earlier, eventual, flag of Dayak Besar state of 1946-50?
Chrystian Kretowicz, 13 April 2009