The One Piece flag protest
You might remember it as Straw Hat flag, Jolly Roger protest
This spread through many posts rather than one canonical upload.
Latest internet culture11 of 34
2025·The last few years·controversial
The skull in a straw hat from the manga One Piece, flown as a flag at real protests.
At a glanceThe facts
- Remembered as
- Straw Hat flag
- Spread in
- 2025
- Format
- Phenomenon
- Taken from
- The flag of the Straw Hat Pirates in Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece, first shown in July 1997
- Where
- First used at a protest in Yogyakarta, Indonesia
- Origin
- No single original
- Available
- Not held by ViralWorld
What this wasThe story
Indonesians flew the Straw Hat Pirates flag from One Piece in place of the national flag in the run-up to Independence Day, as an oblique way of registering dissent.
Government criticism amplified it. The same flag then appeared at protests in Nepal, the Philippines and France.
Why it matteredWhat changed
A cartoon pirate flag raised by Indonesian students in 2025 was hanging from Nepal’s seat of government a month later as that government fell, and appeared at protests in at least ten more countries.
TimelineIn order
- Made
Indonesian protesters carry it at a demonstration in Yogyakarta.1
- Took off
It spreads through student-led protests around Indonesia’s independence day. Some politicians call flying it treason; the president is said to regard it as free speech.1
- Mainstream
It becomes a symbol of protests in Nepal, and is hung at the main government complex as the government falls.1
- Mainstream
Protesters in Madagascar fly a version with a local hat, and it is seen at demonstrations in the United States.1
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Why it is here: something the internet still knows by name · it got out of its own corner of the internet fast
Where it came fromWhat we know
This spread through many posts rather than one identifiable original. No copy is held here — what it was, when it spread and what people called it is what this page can tell you.
Not established. This index only names a creator where the evidence supports it.
SourcesWhat was read
Sources last read on . That date is about the history on this page. Whether the media still plays is checked separately and can change any day. How ViralWorld documents things