The "One Piece" Flag Goes Viral: A Joke, a Criticism, and an Accusation of Treason

Every time August arrives, the government always urges the public to fly the Red and White flag. This is no exception for the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Republic of Indonesia on August 17, 2025, where the government has also invited the public to display the Red and White flag for one month, from August 1 to August 31, 2025. The Ministry of Home Affairs even distributed 10 million Red and White flags to the public.

Instead of flying the Red and White flag, some people are flying black flags depicting a Jolly Roger skull wearing a straw hat. The symbol of the Straw Hat Pirates, led by Monkey D. Luffy in the anime series One Piece, has been displayed on homes and vehicles.

People also upload the One Piece flag on social media platforms like Instagram, X, TikTok, and Facebook. Some even change their social media profile pictures to the One Piece symbol.

In fact, on Monday (4/8/2025) afternoon, there were 74,900 tweets about One Piece on social media X. This conversation made the topic "One Piece" occupy the 11th trending position in Indonesia.

The call to fly the 'One Piece' flag had already existed before the government urged people to fly the Red and White flag during the month of August, but the context was just for fun.

Some of the social media content consisted of reposts of videos of the One Piece flag being displayed in various regions. However, others questioned the government's and House of Representatives' response to the ban on the flag's display.

This occurred after several ministers and members of the House of Representatives (DPR) issued a ban and threatened criminal penalties against those raising the One Piece flag. Several residents raising the flag were also approached by authorities.

Drone Emprit analyst Nova Mujahid said that monitoring of X's social media found that the call to display the One Piece flag first appeared on July 26. The call was made by an X account when commenting on an image of the 80th Indonesian Independence Day logo.

Initially, user X commented that he would raise the Dutch flag to signify the demise of the Indonesian government. Another user then chimed in, suggesting he would raise the Japanese flag. Finally, someone wrote to raise the One Piece flag as a joke or for fun.

"The call to fly the One Piece flag was already there before the government urged people to fly the Red and White flag during the month of August, but the context was just a joke," said Nova when contacted from Jakarta, Monday (4/8/2025).

Drone Emprit noted that the term One Piece has been among the top 50 trending topics in Indonesia since July 31. Conversations about One Piece peaked on August 1 and have continued to do so.

However, since the beginning of this month, Nova continued, a new interpretation of the One Piece flag has emerged, moving from being a joke to a symbol of social criticism. The One Piece flag is seen as representing public unrest over various issues, such as the freezing of unused accounts for three months, the confiscation of land that has been idle for two years, and the difficulty of finding employment.

This interpretation refers to the moral message of the main character of One Piece, Monkey D. Luffy, who is known for his spirit of freedom, anti-oppression, and courage to fight against tyrannical authority. One Piece fans known as "Nakama" also use the flag as a symbolic expression to reject social inequality, fight against corrupt systems, or simply voice freedom of thought and action.

"The story of One Piece is considered representative in depicting the conditions experienced by some members of society," said Nova.

He noted that there were around 15,000 posts about One Piece over the past week across various social media channels. The most conversations took place on X, with over 10,700 posts and over 2 billion engagements. This was followed by TikTok, with 239 posts appearing on the For You Page (FYP) and generating 108 million engagements.

The increasing amount of content generally reflects public responses to the government's ban on the flying of the One Piece flag. Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai, for example, believes the state has the right to expressly prohibit the flying of the flag, deeming it unlawful and a form of treason.

Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Budi Gunawan even stated that the government would take firm and measured legal action if there was any element of intent or provocation in the raising of the One Piece flag. This step was taken to maintain order and the dignity of state symbols.

The government's stance was then responded to by the public by circulating an image of Vice President Gibran Rakabuming wearing a pin bearing the One Piece logo. Prior to his inauguration on October 20, 2024, Gibran wore a pin bearing the One Piece logo, including at the United Village Gathering on November 19, 2023, the Peaceful Election Declaration on November 27, 2023, and the vice presidential debate on January 21, 2024.

According to Nova, none of the posts encourage treason or criminal activity. People liken the One Piece flag to the flag of a social organization or football club.

"In fact, the public thinks the government is exaggerating and doesn't understand the meaning of the One Piece story," said Nova.

Minister of State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi, after meeting with several national logistics driver associations at the House of Representatives Building in Jakarta on Monday (August 4, 2025), did not question the creativity of some groups who displayed the One Piece flag. He interpreted it as a form of freedom of expression.

However, what he fears is that there are parties who exploit that creativity to tarnish the meaning of the independence commemoration, especially to the extent of urging not to fly the Red and White flag anymore.

When asked about the potential for legal action against those who display the One Piece flag, the State Secretary explained that action would only be taken if there were parties who actively "shifted the meaning" of the creative expression into a political call to deny the Red and White flag.

"Even if there are any actions, it's what I've explained many times before. If there are parties who shift the meaning of that expression, for example, by urging people to fly this (the One Piece flag) instead of this (the Red and White). "What about this? This is the sacred Red and White flag," Prasetyo said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives from the Gerindra Party faction, Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, stated that the House of Representatives (DPR) has no problem with people flying the One Piece flag. However, he warned that certain parties should not exploit the flag's viral momentum to divide the nation.

"But overall, we think there is no problem with the creativity of raising the flag and also using the One Piece flag," said Dasco.

Muhammad Isnur, chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), stated that raising the One Piece flag is a form of public expression that should not be prohibited. The One Piece symbol is used as a symbol of criticism of the government, much like poetry, images, songs, films, or other works of art.

Therefore, the government should listen to and understand public criticism. It would be wrong to ban such criticism, as freedom of expression is guaranteed by the constitution. Furthermore, there was no intention to treason or to overthrow the President through the One Piece symbol.

"So, don't over-understand it, especially if it's considered treason. This is far from the goal of overthrowing the government," Isnur said.

Diah Kartini Lasman, a lecturer at the University of Indonesia's Faculty of Humanities, believes that placing the One Piece flag under the Indonesian national flag can be interpreted as a communicative act, as suggested by Jurgen Habermas. This communication is a symbolic expression to open public discussion about dissatisfaction with the state of the country.

Furthermore, the message conveyed by the One Piece flag is an intertextualization of a widely recognized symbol, the "Straw Hat Pirates" flag. In the series, Luffy also represents resistance against tyranny and the pursuit of justice.

He continued, the use of non-formal public spaces, namely social media, as a communication crisis between the people and the government. This can be interpreted that the people can no longer express their aspirations formally and must instead do so informally, that is, by going viral on social media.

"Ultimately, there may be a legitimacy crisis here, namely a decline in public trust in the government," said Diah.

Rr Satiti Shakuntala, a sociology lecturer at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University in Jakarta, also views the One Piece flag display as a form of social and political criticism. The One Piece flag has become a symbolic representation of protest or provocation.

From a sociological perspective, the widespread calls to raise the One Piece flag demonstrates mechanical solidarity, as in Emile Durkheim's theory, which later evolved into organic solidarity. This is evident in the naturally occurring calls for discussion on social media.

"The social group with the collective identity of the straw hat flag can be seen as a form of representation of protest against the government," said Satiti Shakuntala.

And when the One Piece flag flies in front of small houses in narrow alleys, is carried by trucks across rough roads, or appears on social media timelines, perhaps it's not trying to compete with the Red and White. Maybe it just wants to be heard.