All anthems

Indonesia

Indonesia Raya

Written 1924

Adopted 1945

Lyrics Wage Rudolf Supratman

Music Wage Rudolf Supratman

🤝 Unity 🏛 Identity 🕊 Freedom 🌿 Nature 🌅 Hope | Majestic

Key Facts

1. Wage Rudolf Supratman first performed Indonesia Raya on a violin at the 1928 Youth Congress, when he was twenty-five years old.
2. Dutch colonial authorities banned the song in 1930 and seized unsold gramophone records; young Indonesians sidestepped the ban by singing "Mulia, mulia" ("glorious") in place of "Merdeka, merdeka" ("be free") in the refrain.
3. The full song has three stanzas, but under Government Regulation No. 44 of 1958 only the first stanza serves as the official national anthem.
4. Supratman wrote both the words and the music; the familiar symphonic arrangement was created by the Dutch composer Jos Cleber in 1950 at the Indonesian government's request and tailored to President Sukarno's wishes.
5. After Supratman died in 1938 the rights passed to his sisters, but when the song was adopted as the national anthem it became state property, and the government later credited Supratman as its sole creator by law.

Lyrics

Under Government Regulation No. 44 of 1958, only the first stanza together with its refrain is sung as the official national anthem. The complete work has three stanzas.

Indonesia tanah airku, Tanah tumpah darahku, Di sanalah aku berdiri, Jadi pandu ibuku. Indonesia kebangsaanku, Bangsa dan tanah airku, Marilah kita berseru, Indonesia bersatu. Hiduplah tanahku, Hiduplah negeriku, Bangsaku, Rakyatku, semuanya, Bangunlah jiwanya, Bangunlah badannya, Untuk Indonesia Raya. Indonesia Raya, Merdeka, merdeka, Tanahku, negeriku yang kucinta! Indonesia Raya, Merdeka, merdeka, Hiduplah Indonesia Raya.

Translations are non-official and intended to convey meaning, not replace originals

Analysis

Editorial

"Indonesia Raya" ("Great Indonesia") was composed by Wage Rudolf Supratman in 1924 and first performed publicly on his violin on 28 October 1928 at the Second Youth Congress (Sumpah Pemuda) in Batavia, today's Jakarta, where it became a rallying point for the nationalist movement. The Chinese-Indonesian weekly Sin Po was the first newspaper to openly print its notation and words, an act of defiance that led the Dutch colonial authorities to ban the song in 1930. The first stanza was adopted as the national anthem when Indonesia proclaimed independence on 17 August 1945, and its status was later formalised by Government Regulation No. 44 of 1958 and Law No. 24 of 2009. The widely heard orchestral arrangement was written by the Dutch composer Jozef "Jos" Cleber in 1950 and approved by President Sukarno.