Prabowo Honours Indonesia’s Independence Day Flag-Raising Team

President Prabowo Subianto has publicly thanked the personnel behind Indonesia’s 81st Independence Day ceremony, placing particular emphasis on the National Flag-Raising Team, known as Paskibraka.

His message, delivered through his official Instagram account on Wednesday evening, followed the August 17 ceremonies at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta and a subsequent gathering for participants at his private residence in Hambalang, Bogor, West Java.

A public thank-you for a symbolic duty

Prabowo thanked the flag-raising team for its dedication and service during the Independence Day ceremony. In his social-media post, he described the raising of Indonesia’s Red and White flag as an honourable duty.

The President said the flag represented the nation’s struggle, unity and sovereignty. He also encouraged the participants to retain the spirit represented by the Red and White in their future service to Indonesia.

“Thank you for your dedication and service to the nation and state,” Prabowo said in his post, according to Antara.

The focus on Paskibraka is notable because the team performs one of the ceremony’s most visible roles: carrying and raising the national flag during the official commemoration. Prabowo’s remarks framed that role not simply as ceremonial work, but as service connected to national identity.

A broader recognition of ceremony personnel

The President’s appreciation extended beyond the flag-raising team. Earlier on Wednesday, he invited personnel involved in the Independence Day celebrations to Hambalang, where he thanked them personally.

According to the report, those present included:

• Members of the National Flag-Raising Team;
• Ceremony commanders and officers;
• Pilots and aerial-display teams;
• Army Special Forces parachutists; and
• Performers involved in the August 17 celebrations.

Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya, who attended the gathering, said Prabowo conveyed both gratitude and pride to those involved in commemorating the anniversary of Indonesia’s independence.

Photographs released by the Cabinet Secretariat also showed senior military officials at the Hambalang gathering, including Army Chief of Staff Gen. Maruli Simanjuntak. The attendance underlined the breadth of the personnel required to stage an event that combines state protocol, military participation and public performance.

The day’s formal sequence

The Independence Day programme at Merdeka Palace included a morning commemoration of the Proclamation of Independence, followed by a flag-lowering ceremony in the afternoon.

That structure gave the flag-raising team a central place in the day’s official observance. Prabowo’s later message maintained the same symbolic thread, linking the flag to the country’s historical struggle, unity and sovereignty.

The report also noted related Independence Day events, including a flypast over Merdeka Palace involving Rafale fighter jets and an A400M, as well as the President’s attendance at a night carnival at the National Monument. These events formed part of the wider commemorative atmosphere surrounding the August 17 celebrations.

For investors watching Indonesia from abroad, such occasions do not by themselves alter an investment case. They can, however, offer a useful window into the formal institutions, national symbols and public rituals that remain important to the country’s political and civic life.

What this means for investors

The immediate significance of this story is institutional rather than commercial. Prabowo used the occasion to recognise young ceremonial personnel, military participants, officers, aviation teams and performers whose work supported a major state commemoration.

There is no investment announcement, policy change or market measure in the report. Investors should therefore resist reading direct economic implications into a ceremonial event.

Instead, the practical takeaway is one of context:

• Indonesia’s Independence Day remains a major state occasion centred on the Red and White flag and the Proclamation of Independence.
• The President’s remarks stressed service, unity and sovereignty.
• The commemoration brought together civilian ceremony personnel, military participants and public performers.
• Official recognition took place both at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta and at the Hambalang gathering in West Java.

For those assessing Indonesia over the long term, understanding the country’s civic calendar and national symbolism is part of understanding its operating environment. It is not a substitute for legal, commercial or market due diligence, but it can help place official communication in its broader national setting.

The lasting message from the President was directed to the participants themselves: that the spirit represented by the Red and White should continue in their lives and service to Indonesia.

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