Campaign Medals of Indonesia

Abstract

The orders, decorations and medals of Indonesia are bit a mystery for scholars and even collectors. Indonesia proclaimed its Independence on August 17, 1945. Since that date, the Indonesian government has elaborated a full-fledged awards system. The last important amendments took place in 2009 when the Law No. 20 “About the titles, medals and decorations” was signed by the then President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (Undang-Undang Republik Indonesia Nomor 20 Tahun 2009 tentang Gelar, Tanda Jasa, dan Tanda Kehormatan). Currently there are fourteen orders (bintang) and over thirty medals (satyalancana) in the Indonesian awards system. Several orders and medals became obsolete. In total, there are about fifty governmental medals in the history of Indonesia since Independence. But if one adds classes of several service medals, the count ever increases. My paper examines the campaign medals of the Republic of Indonesia. Those are The Seven Paths or Faithful Warrior Medal (Satyalancana Saptamarga), The First and Second Independence Wars Medals (Satyalancana-Satyalancana Peristiwa/ Satyalancana Perang Kemerdekaan kesatu dan kedua), The Campaign Medals I—VII (Satyalancana-Satyalancana Gerakan Operasi MiliterI—VII), The Pioneer of the Independence Movement Medal (Satyalancana Perintis Pergerakan Kemerdekaan), The Faithful Service or Satya Dharma Medal (Satyalancana Satya Dharma), The Courage or Wira Dharma Medal (Satyalancana Wira Dharma), The Defender Medal or Medal for Combatting Communism (Satyalancana Penegak), The Eighth Campaign Medal “The Defender of the Law” (Satyalancana Gerakan Operasi MiliterVIII “ Dharma Phala”), The Ninth Campaign Medal “The Giant of Duties” (Satyalancana Gerakan Operasi MiliterIX “Raksaka Dharma”), and The Lotus or Timor Military Campaign Medal (Satyalancana Seroja). There are two basic types of Indonesian campaign medals. The first type has the round form with a wavy edge. The second type is the pentagonal star with concave sides and with balls on the vertexes of all the angles. The latter type reflects the State ideology of the Five Principles (Pancasila) proclaimed by Sukarno in 1945. The first type of campaign medals seemingly reflects the connections between fire, virility, masculinity and military actions in the traditional Javanese culture; at least, the traditional Javanese dagger Kris often has a wavy blade.