Abstract
This chapter explores the role of flags in commemorations of the past, the representation of national identities, and their role in imaginings of nationhood. Taking the national flag of Timor-Leste and the Fretilin party flag as case studies, it examines how an historical national identity and heritage can be enshrined in these powerful symbols. Tracing the recent history of the half-island and the Indonesian occupation (1975–1999), these two flags demonstrate the fluid nature of symbols, and how their meanings can be flexible to adapt to changing political circumstances. In the post-independence state, the national and Fretilin flags are two of the most widely recognised symbols of resistance, struggle, and suffering, in light of the recent past, and are thus fundamental markers of contemporary East Timorese nationalism.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
The 2017 elections saw Fretilin return to power, albeit with a minority government, which ultimately collapsed and led to further elections in May 2018.
- 3.
This conflict over claims to symbolic capital is an example of Bourdieu’s ‘social relations’. He argues that ‘“social problems” are social relations: they emerge from confrontation between two groups, two systems of antagonistic interests and theses’ (Bourdieu 1980, p. 269).
- 4.
While Fretilin constituted the political representative of the East Timorese people throughout the occupation, the resistance movement was reformed in 1987 to become an umbrella organization without overt partisan ties (Niner 2001, pp. 21–22).
- 5.
The details of the symbolism of the Fretilin flag comes from a Fretilin manual, given to those members who attended the National Timorese Convention in Portugal, 25–27 April 1998. This information was kindly shared with me by an individual present at this conference.
- 6.
Though the Cuban flag was first raised in 1902, long before Castro’s 1959 revolution instated a socialist government, throughout the Cold War Cuba and its national symbols and iconography were synonymous with communism.
- 7.
Indeed, as Sawer suggests, in the twenty-first century ‘[a]ppeals to patriotism are seen to trump appeals to socialist solidarity’ (2007, p. 42).
- 8.
‘Here we honour the dead and the living, we also honour the men and women from the various parts of the world that contributed towards the independence of Timor-Leste’. This translation and all others in this chapter are my own.
- 9.
There is an understanding in Timor-Leste that respect and honour is due to those who sacrificed and that those who suffered during the resistance should be recompensed (Traube 2007, pp. 21–22). The many East Timorese who died by the national flag under the Indonesian occupation are considered to be martyrs to the cause of national liberation and, in popular imaginings, are consequently attributed high prestige and respect.
- 10.
During my fieldtrip to Timor-Leste, I was able to see some of the textbooks used in primary schools that teach the symbolism of the national flag (for an example, see Pereira et al. 2009).
- 11.
‘The colour black symbolises the need to fight with strength to be able to gain independence’.
- 12.
‘I understand [the meaning of the colours] but only a little. […] The national flag means a lot. Its meaning is about all Timorese people, people who died, people who are alive, people who don’t know how to speak, people who are isolated. They are all in it. The flag is everyone’s’.
- 13.
The organisation, CPD-RDTL, argued at the time that this restoration did not go far enough and that the ‘RDTL 1’ should be fully restored in all its glory (Leach 2017, p. 142).
- 14.
The resistance movement acronym should not be confused with the post-independence political party, the Congresso Nacional de Reconstrução de Timor-Leste, which was created in 2007. The party has deliberately used the same acronym to draw on the symbolic capital of the resistance era, furthered by its leadership by Xanana Gusmão.
- 15.
Throughout the 1980s, the resistance movement (which included the armed, clandestine, diplomatic, and political wings of the movement) underwent numerous reforms. The numerous reforms resulted in the formation of the non-partisan umbrella group Conselho Nacional de Resistência Maubere (CNRM) in 1987. The final reform was in 1998 when the CNRT name was decided, and which was the official and final name of the resistance movement until independence was officially regained in 2002 (Niner 2001, pp. 21–22).
- 16.
It is important to note that this debate over the national flag took place and was formerly considered by the UNTAET Constitutional Affairs Branch after public consultation. Popular opinion over the flag debate was divided, along lines of region and political opinion on other aspects of nation-building, including the decisions about national holidays and the official languages for the new state.
- 17.
The strategy of symbolic appropriation of the resistance era by post-independence political parties will be explored in more detail in Chapter 6.
- 18.
Fretilin supporters protested because they believed that the new government had been formed illegally, that Fretilin had received more votes in the election than any other party and claimed that Gusmão’s new government had unlawfully usurped the democratically elected government (Murdoch 2007).
- 19.
The modern ASDT party has historic connections to Fretilin: the original party was formed in 1974 but later transformed into Fretlin as it stands today. In 2000, Xavier do Amaral ‘resurrected’ the original ASDT that now co-exists alongside Fretilin (Shoesmith 2011, pp. 18–20). The symbol of the raised fist is predominantly associated with Fretilin in Timor-Leste and is the central image in the party’s emblem. This originates from Fretilin’s former revolutionary ideology.
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Arthur, C.E. (2019). Flying the Nation’s Colours: Commemorations of the Past and the National Flag of Timor-Leste. In: Political Symbols and National Identity in Timor-Leste. Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98782-8_2
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