The national flag of Timor-Leste () consists of a red field with the black isosceles triangle based on the hoist-side bearing a white five-pointed star in the center superimposed on the larger yellow triangle, also based on the hoist-side, that extends to the center of the flag.
Official description of the flag.
According to the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste", Part I, Section 15:"
"The national flag is rectangular and is formed by two isosceles triangles, the bases of which are overlapping. One triangle is black and its height is equal to two-third of the length overlapped to the yellow triangle, whose height is equal to half the length of the Flag. In the centre of the black triangle there is a white star of five ends, meaning the light that guides. The white star has one of its ends turned towards the left side end of the flag. The remaining part of the flag is red."
With the constitution of the "Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste" on November 28, 1975, the flag was officially adopted for the first time. The symbolism of this flag was given the following meaning:
Today, both the colours and their meanings are specified in the new Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste of 2002 (Part I, Section 15):
Flags are powerful symbols in East Timorese culture and have a high cultural significance. They play a significant role in East Timorese identification as a community. Flags are automatically attributed a symbolic power, making them a sacred object.
Variations.
The tones of the individual colours are not precisely defined in the Constitution. The Independence Day Celebrations Committee of the United Nations Transitional Administration for East Timor (UNTAET) indicated light orange (PMS 123) as the correct shade of yellow, which is usually found on official flags. In flag illustrations in books or on the internet, but also in flags commonly used in Timor-Leste, a light yellow is also widely used. According to the UNTAET source, the red corresponds to the tone PMS 485. Here, too, there are versions with a light red in Timor-Leste. Even darker versions only appear as flag images, but not as flags. Although UNTAET gives the size of the black triangle as a quarter of the flag's length, the existing flags and illustrations all have a triangle with a size of one third.
There is disagreement about the correct proportions of the flag. While the 1975 flag always had the 2:3 ratio common in most of Europe, flags with a ratio of 1:2 also appeared in official use with the independence of Timor-Leste. The reason for this is presumably that these flags are manufactured in Australia, where the proportions of 1:2 are customary. A clear uniform regulation was initially pending, but Law 02/2007 on the national symbols shows a picture of a flag with a 1:2 ratio in the appendix. Furthermore, the law lists in Article 4 the different formats of the flag in which the cloth flag should hang in public offices, barracks, private and state schools. Type 1 consists of a cloth 45 centimetres wide, Type 2 consists of a cloth 90 centimetres wide, Type 3 135 centimetres wide and so on up to Type 7 315 centimetres wide. However, in paragraph 2, the article explicitly allows smaller and larger flags, as well as those with sizes in between, as long as the proportions are respected.
Flags are often seen with the top of the star pointing straight up. This was often the case with the 1975 flag. But today's constitution clearly states that the star should point with a tip to the upper left corner. This is also followed by the illustration in Law 02/2007.
The flag of Timor-Leste used for the independence celebration on 20 May 2002 had a straight star despite the clear specifications. It also had an aspect ratio of 1:2 and used the bright yellow in combination with the bright red.
History.
Monarchical Era (1702–1910).
Until independence from Portugal, the colony of Portuguese Timor used only the flag of Portugal. The Liurais, the traditional rulers of Timor, drew part of their claim to rule from sacred objects (lulik) owned by the ruling families. When the invaders subjugated the Liurais as vassals, they gave them Portuguese flags, which, along with the flagpoles, became sacred objects themselves, thus legitimising the rule of the Portuguese and the Liurais loyal to them. Especially in the culture of the Mambai, the flag cult took on a central significance. According to their myth of origin, the world order is created by two brothers. The elder brother, from whom the Timorese descend, holds the ritual power over the cosmos. The younger brother has the power over the social order. The non-Timorese peoples, in this case the Portuguese, are descended from this brother. The myth tells of the loss, search and recovery of a lost, sacred object, namely the Portuguese flag. This sacred meaning of the blue and white flag led to some problems when the flag of Portugal was changed in 1910 when the country changed from a monarchy to a republic.
Republican Era (1911–1975).
On 15 February 1946, the Angola arrived at the Portuguese naval base of Alcântara from Portuguese Timor. She brought home Portuguese who had lived in the colony during the Battle of Timor in the Second World War. A white flag with the Portuguese Timorese coat of arms on a green and red cross appears in the crowd.
In 1961, a small, left-oriented Timorese resistance movement - the "Bureau de Luta pela Libertação de Timor" (BLLT) - used a flag that already had some elements of today's national flag. It consisted of a yellow-bordered black disc with a five-pointed white star on red cloth. Later, the BLLT established a short-lived government-in-exile in Jakarta called the "United Republic of Timor", which used the same flag.
In 1967, there were proposals for separate flags for the individual Portuguese colonies, with the coat of arms of the colony added to the lower right of the flag of Portugal. However, the proposals were never implemented.
Portugal's last flag over East Timor.
After the Carnation Revolution in 1974, Portugal prepared its colonies for independence. However, civil war broke out in Portuguese Timor in August 1975 between the left-leaning Fretilin and the conservative Timorese Democratic Union (UDT). Portugal's governor Mário Lemos Pires was forced to evacuate all Portuguese administrative and military personnel and their families to the island of Atauro off the coast of the capital Dili on August 26 and 27. In the end, the Fretilin prevailed in the battle. Pires was urged by them to return to Dili and press ahead with decolonization, but he insisted on waiting for instructions from Lisbon. It was not until October that the Portuguese corvette "" reached Atauro, bringing Pires his first sign of support from Portugal. Indonesia took advantage of the situation to infiltrate and occupy the areas near the Portuguese-Timorese border with troops. On December 7, Indonesia began the open invasion and occupation of Dili and the rest of the territory. After the evacuation of the Portuguese personnel to Atauro, the Portuguese flag continued to fly over the Governor's Palace in Dili. Only on the day of the declaration of independence by the Fretilin was the flag taken down by the Falintil commander and replaced by the new flag of East Timor. The whereabouts of this Portuguese flag are not known.
However, the Portuguese flag continued to fly on Atauro, where Pires had retreated to. It was not until December 30, 1975 that Indonesian troops occupied Atauro. In an official military ceremony attended by Indonesian and local Portuguese soldiers under the command of Ensign ("alferes") David Ximenes, the flag of Portugal was taken down and replaced by the flag of Indonesia. At their request, the Portuguese flag was handed over to Guilherme de Sousa, a primary school teacher and UDT deputy from Atauro, and Luís Amaral, the head of administration ("chefe de posto") of Atauro. The following day, Pires and the Portuguese community left the colony from Atauro on board two Portuguese warships. The UDT was cooperating with the Indonesian occupation at the time. UDT members brought the flag, escorted by Indonesian soldiers, to Dili and handed it over to UDT President . From 1976 to 1982, Lopes da Cruz was the Indonesian deputy governor of occupied East Timor. Lopes da Cruz then moved to Jakarta and became special advisor on East Timor to Indonesia's dictator Suharto. Lopes da Cruz took the flag with him. Although there were repeated calls for the flag to be handed over to a museum or the Indonesian National Archives, Lopes da Cruz refused to hand it over. Finally, Suharto decided that Lopes da Cruz could keep the flag and gave him a special suitcase with the insignia of the President of the Republic of Indonesia to keep the flag in as a sign of his loyalty. Lopes da Cruz later served as Indonesia's ambassador to Greece and Portugal. In contrast to the last flags of the other six colonies that Portugal lost or relinquished into independence from 1961, the whereabouts of the Timorese flag of Portugal remained unknown to the public for a long time. It was only in 2015 that Lopes da Cruz presented it to journalists. He regards the flag as a "relic" and keeps it in a small room of its own, together with Suharto's suitcase and a crucifix about one meter high, which Lopes da Cruz bought in Fátima in 1994.
Independence (1974–1975).
After the Carnation Revolution in Portugal, parties were also allowed in Portuguese Timor. East Timor's dominant leftist party, the Frente Revolucionária de Timor-Leste Independente (Fretilin) used the same colours as the BLLT in its party flag and also the white star on a black background. Apart from their political orientation, there are no links between the two organisations. To what extent the flag served as a model or simply common socialist symbols, such as the five-pointed star and the colour red, were used on the party flag is not clear. According to legend, the resistance fighter Natalino Leitão designed the current national flag based on the Fretilin flag the night before the proclamation of independence from Portugal on 28 November 1975. The incipient occupation of the country by Indonesia had put the Fretilin on the spot. Today, 28 November is Timor-Leste's bank holidays, when official buildings are flagged. Only nine days after the declaration of independence, Indonesia openly started to invade East Timor. Natalino Leitão was killed in the process.
The declaration of independence was only recognised by a few countries. Politically, Indonesia was supported by the United States and Australia, as they feared a second Cuba due to the leftist orientation of Fretilin. The extent to which the red basic colour and the certain similarity of the flag design to Cuba's flag supported this assumption is debatable. That the flag of Cuba or the flag of Mozambique were models for Leitão's triangular design can only be assumed. At least there were and still are sympathies for Cuba and especially for Ernesto Che Guevara in Timor-Leste. Fretilin already had close relations with Mozambique and its ruling party FRELIMO.
Indonesian occupation (1975–1999).
Beyond party political affiliation, the flag of the Fretilin became more and more a symbol of the organisation of resistance for the people during the occupation, and the national flag of 1975 a symbol of the people and their urge for independence. The occupation forces reacted to the use of the flags with severe repression. The use of flags other than the flag of Indonesia was forbidden. Until 1999, East Timor was governed by Indonesia as a province, while internationally it was considered a "dependent territory under Portuguese administration". As an Indonesian province, it was also given a provincial flag, but this was only used in the governor's office, as was customary with all provincial flags. The flag of Timor Timur, as Timor-Leste was officially called at the time, displayed the provincial coat of arms on an orange background. When a Portuguese parliamentary delegation was due to visit East Timor in 1989, the Indonesian government distributed 30,000 Indonesian flags to be placed on the homes of Dili. This was intended to demonstrate the integration of East Timor into Indonesia.
The armed resistance against the Indonesians was led by Falintil, which was originally the military arm of Fretilin. In 1987, its leader Xanana Gusmão transformed