(First Contest) National Symbols of Indonesia

Hello Steemians, firstly congrats for reaching 100 subscribers and i want to thank you @belenguerra for creating this contest. i will participate since there is no Indonesian enter the contest yet.

Indonesia is a big archipelagic state in South East Asia. Various sources have different claim on the number, but they all agree there are more than 13,000 islands in Indonesia. And with the distance from west to east is more than 5,000 km, it makes Indonesia the largest archipelagic state in the world.

Flag, Emblem and National Anthem

Indonesian flag is called Sang Saka Merah Putih, consist of red strip above white strip, represent bravery and purity respectively. Raised first time during Independence day in August 17, 1945 but its history can be dated back to Majapahit kingdom era in 13th century.

Emblem of Indonesia is called Garuda Pancasila. Garuda is eagle-like bird from hindu mythology. 17 feathers on each wing, 8 on tail, 19 above the tail and 45 on neck represent Indonesia independence day (17-8-1945). Pancasila (the shield) is five principles becoming national ideology of Indonesia, which is:

1. Belief in the one and only God (the star)
2. Just and civilized humanity (chain)
3. Indonesian unity (banyan tree)
4. Democracy under the wise guidance of representative consultations (bull head)
5. Social justice for all the peoples of Indonesia (rice and cotton)

The bird holds a scroll containing national motto, "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika". it is old javanese/sanskrit words meaning "Unity in Diversity". i don't know how many culture we have, because different sources said different number, but probably between 200-300 ethnic groups, or more. But still we all are one as Indonesian.

National Anthem of Indonesia is Indonesia Raya (Great Indonesia), created by musician Wage Rudolf Supratman in 1928. Introduced first time during Second Youth Congress in 1928 and become national anthem in 1945. Literal translation lyrics (short version):

Indonesia, my homeland
Land where my blood shed
Over there, I stand
To be my mother's guide

Indonesia, my nationality
My nation and homeland
Let us exclaim
Indonesia unites!

Long live my land, long live my country
My nation, my people, all of them
Build its soul, build its body
For Indonesia the Great!

Indonesia the Great, be free! Be free!
My land, my country which I love!
Indonesia the Great, be free! Be free!
Long live Indonesia the Great!

---

Flora and Fauna

Being a tropical country and located between two continents (Asia and Australia) result in rich biodiversity, only second to Brazil. Although there are many endemic flora and fauna in Indonesia, the nation chose only a few to become national symbol.

^{we have dragon}

First national animal is Komodo dragon, only found in few islands in East Nusa Tenggara region. it is the biggest lizard in the world, the length and weight can reach up to 2.5 meters and 90kg. with big claw, venom, fast runner, and diet on deer and buffalo, this dragon is no joke.

Other two animal is Javan eagle and Siluk merah (Asian Arowana), the former is known for influence on Garuda Pancasila design and the latter is known for its beauty. Sadly these animals are in endangered status

National flower of Indonesia is white jasmine, moon orchid, and Rafflesia Arnoldii, known as largest flower on earth which smell very stinks

_{above is jasmine and orchid, below is rafflesia flower}

Indonesia national monument is literally called National Monument (Monas: Monumen Nasional) built in 1961 and located in Capital city of Jakarta. A tower structure with height of 132m, its top is decorated by 14.5 ton of flame shaped bronze structure, covered with 50kg pure gold. It is to commemorate the struggle of Indonesia independence from over 120 years of Dutch colonization and 3 years Japanese colonization (it also contains 17-8-45 pattern in its structure).

More things can be showed here but i'm not sure those are national symbol. Thank you for reading my post and sorry for any mistake.

_Source:

_Google

_{Wikipedia: Indonesia}

_{Britannica: Pancasila}

_{all image taken from wikimedia commons, except red arowana fish}

_{this post is set to 100% power up}