page_title: Paskibraka
section_title: First national appearance
hierarchical_section_title: Paskibraka / First national appearance
caption_attribution_description: Bahasa Indonesia: PENGIBARAN SANG MERAH PUTIH oleh pasukan 8 membentuk formasi khusus
context_page_description: The Paskibraka is a youth organization in Indonesia which has the main task for raising and lowering the heirloom national flag of Indonesia in Independence day ceremonies commemorating the independence day of Indonesia throughout Indonesia. Its members come from grade 1 or 2 high school students selected from schools regionally. Its mission is to provide flag bearers and escorts for national flag ceremonies commemorating independence day in the city, province, and national level in Indonesia as well as in some international functions at overseas Indonesian installations. It was founded by Major Husein Mutahar and is led by a national organization with its HQ in Jakarta called the "National Paskibraka Council".
context_section_description: In time for the 22nd anniversary of independence in 1967, Mutahar, at that time retired and in his older years, approached the then President Suharto with a plan to form today's Paskibraka (Pasukan Pengibar Bendera Pusaka) or the "National Heirloom Flag Hoisting Troop", with a ceremonial mission to escort, hoist and lower the national flag during Independence Day ceremony and other national holiday celebrations in the national and regional levels throughout the country. He has chosen the Youth as the Paskibraka to symbolize the importance of their role in the development of the nation in the future. It is to symbolize patriotism and nationalism towards the youth and the people of Indonesia.
  His idea of the Flag Hoisting Troop (Paskibraka) would be a 70-man color troop made up of:
  17-man color advance unarmed platoon with the company commander (formerly provided by the scouts)
  8-man color guard party and escort
  A platoon of armed 45 personnel divided into 4 squads as the Honor Guard unit. During the first years, it was provided by special forces of the Indonesian National Armed Forces on the basis of the then disbanded Tjakrabirawa Regiment. Today it is provided by the Paspampres honor guard unit for the national-level flag hoisting ceremony in the Merdeka Palace and by the armed forces or the Police in provincial, city and regency level ceremonies
  (The numbers are a reminder of the day Indonesia achieved independence, 17-8-1945.)
  The first official Paskibraka Troop took part in the flag raising and lowering ceremonies on Independence Day 1967, which were also covered on Televisi Republik Indonesia, therefore making their first national appearance while at the background the military band played the national anthem while they raised the national flag. (Until 1972 it was named as the Pasukan Pengerek Bendera Pusaka, the present form, Pasukan Pengibar Bendera Pusaka or "Paskibraka", coined by Idik Sulaiman, was adopted in 1973.)
  Starting 1968 flag escort platoons modeled on the one in Jakarta were mandated to be raised in the Provinces and cities of Indonesia for major national holiday ceremonies, it would be the last year the old first sewed national flag would be used in Jakarta. The next year a replica flag took its place in all ceremonies nationwide, and high school students took over the job of providing the color party and the advance platoon, with their red scarf and white dress uniforms and black songkok caps which would become the signature uniform of the Paskibraka troop until today.
caption: Paskibraka extending the national flag before it is raised
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "SONY DSC", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "DSLR-A230", "Image XResolution": "240", "Image YResolution": "240", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.0 (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2013:09:02 20:16:55", "Image ExifOffset": "224", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "752", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "11452", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/160", "EXIF FNumber": "11", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2013:08:17 08:45:39", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2013:08:17 08:45:39", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "915241/125000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "6918863/1000000", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "19/2", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "217/50", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "30", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "45", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}