Flags of the Aceh Sultanate

The Alam Peudeuëng Mirah flag

The Aceh Sultanate has used various flags throughout its history.

History

The Alam Peudeuëng Mirah or Alam Peudeuëng flag was used by the Aceh Sultanate as early as the 16th century until its annexation into the Dutch East Indies after the Aceh War.

Variants

Sword flag

A page from "Tarikh Aceh dan Nusantara", showing the Alam Atjeh poem with a rendition of the Alam Peudeuëng flag

The sword flag has many variations throughout its history of usage. Previously, the sword flag doesn't often include the crescent and star in its flag, and the types of sword differs, as there were no standardisations of the flag.

The crescent and star variant of the sword flag was first illustrated in the 1960s with a poem alongside it:

Alam Atjeh (Original Spelling) Di Atjeh na Alam peudeuëng Tjap sikureuëng lam djaroë radja Phon di Atjeh troih u Pahang Tan soë teuntang Iskandar Muda Bangsa Peutugèh angkatan meugah Abèh geupinah di Atjeh raja U Melaka keudèh di pioh Keunan pih troih geupitjrok teuma Iskandar Sani duk geugantoë Lakoë putroë Tadjul mulia, Kota Melaka teuma geu engkhoë Peutugèh diwoë keudèh u Gua

English Translation In Aceh, there's the sword standard With the seal of nine at the king's hand Starting from Aceh all the way to Pahang No one dares to question Iskandar Muda The Portuguese with their mighty forces Cleared away from Greater Aceh They then stopped to rest in Malacca In there too they were quelled Iskandar Sani sat in succession The husband of princess Tajul Mulia The city of Malacca he then razed And so the Portuguese fled to Goa

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  Digital rendition of the Alam Peudeuëng used in 1840
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  Digital rendition of Alam Zulfiqar (1877), a variation of the Alam Peudeuëng
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  The Aceh Sultanate's war flag used in the Second Aceh Expedition

Symbolism

Alam Peudeuëng (Jawoë: علم ڤدڠ pronounced [alam pɯdɯəŋ]) directly translates to "the Sword Standard" or "the Flag of the Sword". The current flag consists of a plain red field, with a white crescent and star and a sword below it. The crescent and star symbolises Islam, which was taken from the flag of the Ottoman Empire, Aceh favoured the Ottoman Empire due to its assistance against Portuguese expansionism and later on being a key ally to the sultanate, even requesting protection under the Ottomans, The sword represents the sovereignty of Aceh, but also a symbol of the Acehnese's firmness, feared by their opponents.

Crescent and star flags

Before the Alam Peudeuëng, Aceh previously used the Ottoman flag as its own, later on, Aceh took inspiration from the Ottomans and designed several flags of their own with the crescent and star symbol, which later became a symbol of Aceh and its Islamic culture. Due to its influence across the archipelago, the crescent and star symbol later adopted by several Islamic kingdoms in Southeast Asia, specifically in Indonesia and Malaysia.

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  A depiction of an eight-starred flag
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  An eight-pointed star flag spotted in 1877, with a slightly tilted star
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  A six-pointed star flag spotted in 1877, in the original sketch, a text in Dutch reads "Seen in Great Aceh (the Beginning of the Aceh Expedition)"

Modern usage

Main article: Flag of Aceh

Nowadays, the Alam Peudeuëng is often used to represent the Acehnese people as an alternative to the flag of the Free Aceh Movement, which would go against Indonesian law as it's related to a separatist movement.

Parts of Acehnese society show support of using the Alam Peudeuëng as the official flag of Aceh, as they deem it to better represent Acehnese culture, history, and consider it as the original symbol of Aceh and its people.

On 1 September 2019, a community who claims to be the extended family of the mandate bearers of the Aceh Sultanate held a flag raising ceremony of the Indonesian flag and the Alam Peudeuëng flag to celebrate the Islamic New Year of 1441 in the Darul Ihsan palace, located in Blang Oi Village, Banda Aceh, alongside an edict by Tuanku Muhammad ZN, saying that the Alam Peudeuëng is not just a flag, but a symbol of the struggle to spread Islamic dawah in Aceh and the Malay world, as well as to restore the spirit of unification and harmony amongst the people of Aceh. Afterwards, the flag raising ceremony became an occasional tradition on Islamic New Years.

Other flags

Other Aceh Sultanate flags

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  Civil ensign of the Aceh Sultanate (1877)
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  Royal Standard of the King of Trumon (1877)
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  Royal Standard of the Prince of Aceh (1877)
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  Royal Standard of the King of Samalanga (1877)

Derived and similar flags

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  The Buleun Bintang flag of the Free Aceh Movement, which may have been inspired from the Alam Peudeuëng
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  The flag of Sisingamangaraja XII, which was heavily inspired by the Alam Zulfiqar of Aceh
• 
  The flag of the Riau-Lingga Sultanate (Not to be confused with the Flag of Turkey)

See also

• Flag of Batak
• Marawa Minangkabau
• Flag of King Sisingamangaraja
• List of Indonesian Flags

Bibliography

• Zainuddin, H.M. (1961). Tarich Atjeh dan Nusantara [the History of Aceh and Nusantara] (in Indonesian). Medan: Pustaka Iskandar Muda.
• Finkel, Caroline (2005). Osman's Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire 1300-1923. England: John Murray Publishers. ISBN 0-465-02396-7.