Marawa Minangkabau
Indonesian flag
Marawa is a tricolour flag that consists of three vertical charts that feature the colours of the Minangkabau culture: black, red, and gold. It is not known for sure when this flag was first used, but it was officially adopted as the flag of the Pagaruyung Kingdom since its founding in 1347. This flag was also adopted by other kingdoms of the Minangkabau rantau such as the Inderapura Kingdom. A derivative of the flag is also currently used by Negeri Sembilan, a state in Malaysia with historical and cultural connections with the kingdom.
Black represents pangulu, gold represents manti, white represents malin, and red represents dubalang.
Origins
The association of Minangkabau with the colours black, red, and gold (or yellow) is unknown, but the black-red-gold flag was traditionally used to symbolise the Luhak Nan Tigo (Minangkabau Confederation) established in the Minangkabau Highlands by their ancestors, as well as the area of origin of the Minang people before they migrated to areas beyond. The black colour represents Luhak Limo Puluah (Lima Puluh Kota Regency and Payakumbuh City), the red colour represents Luhak Agam (Agam Regency, Bukittinggi City, Padang Pariaman Regency, Pariaman City, and Padang City), and the gold colour represents Luhak Tanah Data (Tanah Datar Regency and surrounding areas).
Besides symbolising nature, each colour also represents key philosophical values. Black for the Minangkabau people has the meaning of eternity, or called tahan tampo (resistant to forging), red symbolises courage and endurance, while gold symbolises majesty, brilliance and shine. Moreover, in Minangkabau customs, these three colours also symbolise Tali Tigo Sapilin, Tungku Tigo Sajarangan (Triumvirate of Minangkabau Nature), that is ninik mamak, cerdik pandai and alim ulama.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q65251625. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1347.
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This entry incorporates text from “Marawa Minangkabau” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.