Talk:Defenders of the Homeland

Source for flag

I was doing research on the Japanese occupation of Indonesia and noticed that, while a great deal of my sources talk in detail of the Defenders of the Homeland, none mention a flag. The uploaded flag is based on a book cover, but are there any sources for the flag actually looking like this? My research is limited to English language sources, so it can very well be that Indonesian sources may refer to the flag's design. Can anyone verify that this flag was actually used by the PETA? Yelizeall (talk) 13:12, 4 March 2024 (UTC)

According to Indonesian book Giyūgun: Tentara Sukarela pada Pendudukan Jepang di Jawa dan Sumatra (Aiko Kurasawa:2024, based on her research into the topic in 1970s) p. 62, the PETA Jawa battalion flag (daidanki) consisted of "green as base color, with a red circle at the center and 16 rays, and a star and crescent inside the circle", while PETA Bali flag is basically the same but without the star and crescent. I haven't read the chapter about PETA Sumatra yet so I don't know if it's also described, but I would assume it's the same as PETA Jawa.

Also from the 5th ed. of Djawa Baroe magazine dated 1 March 1944 p. 12 (snippet of it included in aforementioned book, p. 68), the daidanki consisted of green base color, with red sun and red rays in the center, white star and crescent inside the sun, and the flag border/edges colored purple.

Indeed the flag was actually used, as according to the book, the daidanki was given to a battalion (daidan) during ceremony when the unit was formed. I think you can find more about the flag usage in the Djawa Baroe (basically Japanese propaganda magazine), since the book also used sizeable amounts of photos from the magazine. Jauhsekali (talk) 21:29, 14 June 2024 (UTC)

For example, this is the image from Djawa Baroe magazine that I mentioned earlier, from the digital collection of Leiden University. There's also this PETA propaganda film from Wikimedia Commons, which showed the battalion flags/colors ceremony at 8:30 mark. Jauhsekali (talk) 21:43, 14 June 2024 (UTC)

Indeed the flag was used and relatively well documented. Adding to Jauhsekali's post, we even have black and white images stored in Commons displaying the flag. Such like here in a parade, where the flag can be seen being held. (Noticably different from IJA's flag from the dark coloring and visible border), Here parading in Centra Jakarta to what seems to be the current Presidential palace? Then here in a line full of the flag (notice the dark coloring and border on the flag), and here being held (very clear also!) Kaliper1 (talk) 17:52, 13 July 2024 (UTC)