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ЮГО-ВОСТОЧНАЯ АЗИЯ: АКТУАЛЬНЫЕ ПРОБЛЕМЫ РАЗВИТИЯ
Том I, № 1 (42), 2019
© Anton O. Zakharov
IOS RAS
Moscow State University of Psychology and Education
MYSTERIOUS INDONESIAN NATIONAL POLICE AWARDS
Indonesian orders, decorations and medals are relatively little known among the collectors and scholars. The highest order of Indonesia is the Star of the Republic of Indonesia (Bintang Republik Indonesia). It was awarded to many politicians and famous people, including the first cosmonaut Jury Gagarin and his teammates German Titov, An-drian Nikolayev, Valentina Tereshkova and Valery Bykovsky1. But Indonesian medals are almost unknown outside Indonesia2. They occasionally appear in online medal shops, such as https://www.emedals.com/ and http://www.liverpoolmedals.com/, and in the huge auction hubs like https://www.ebay.com/. Despite the medals of Indonesia are of little and unstable interest among the collectors, the market sometimes gives examples of strange examples of these unique items.
The Jana Utama or Police Good Service Medal
In early 2019, I bought several medals presumably of Indonesian origin, on different occasions. The first medal bears the inscription JANA UTAMA, or 'the best man,' on the obverse (see figs. 1-2). I've checked the Internet sources and found the Government Decree No. 204 of June 21, 1961, 'About the Awards of National Police'3. The Decree establishes several medals for the policemen of Indonesia and fortunately gives their detailed descriptions. So, I've managed to compare the medal bought online with the official description of this award.
The Decree was signed by then Acting President of Indonesia, Djuanda Kartawidjaja or Juanda Kartawijaya in current spelling. It establishes the four medals, or Satyalencana: Jana Utama, Ksatria Tam-tama, Karya Bhakti, and Prasetya Panca Warsa. Their names are Sanskrit in origin. The medal I've bought bears the inscription of the Jana Utama Medal on the obverse. It is the Police Good Service Medal. It is awarded to the policemen who serve with vigilance and devotion and whose behavior serves a model of policeman for their colleagues, according to the Article 3 of the Decree. The Medal 'can also be given to Indonesian citizens who are not members of the State Police but who
carry out the noble duties of the police and actively foster police efforts towards perfection' (Article 3, clause 2). The Medal may be awarded twice and thrice. The second Medal is marked by the lotus flower on the medal bar.
Fig. 1: Police Good Service Medal Fig. 2: Police Good Service Medal or Satyalencana Jana Utama, or Satyalencana Jana Utama,
obverse (Private collection). reverse (Private collection)
The Article 4 of the Decree gives a detailed description of the Medal. "Its obverse is a silvery lotus flower. Inside there are two circles. The inside of the second circle has the symbol of the National Police on a red base. At the bottom of the circles there is a ribbon with the words JANA UTAMA. The bottom of the badge has three five-pointed stars as the Tribrata emblem," i.e. the symbol of the National Police. The Medal is made of gold and silver plated metal. 'The reverse of the Medal bears the inscription REPUBLIK INDONESIA—The Republic of Indonesia.' The hanging tape, or Medal bar, is 40 mm long and 35 mm wide with a black base, with both edges given a yellow line 4 mm wide and in the middle there is a lotus flower image4.
The Decree gives an account of the meaning of the Medal image. The symbol of the National Police is a shield depicting the torch with the flames of fire. The shield symbolizes the protection of people. The torch symbolizes that the Police informs the people and calms them. "The torch has seventeen beams, the torch has eight tongues; the pole has four capitals at the top and five basements at the bottom, all of which symbolize the historic date, 17-8-1945", i.e. the Independence of Indonesia.
'The National Police Corps Pole is the Pillar of the State.' Three stars are pentagonal that reflects the national ideology of Pancasila offered by the first President of Indonesia, Sukarno. The number of stars 'three'
reflects the three principles of the National Police. Lotus flowers are a symbol of sanctity and wisdom. The red color of the base of the shield and the white (silver) color of the lotus flower come from the color of Sang Saka, or the National Flag of Indonesia.
The Government Decree No. 35 of 2010 "The Instruction for Application of the Government Decree No. 20 'About the Titles, Decorations and Awards' " specifies conditions of the awarding medals and orders of Indonesia. The Police Good Service Medal, or Satyalencana Jana Utama, is awarded
Fig. 3: The National Police to the P0,lcemen who consecutively
Meritorious Service Star or serve in the National Police no less than
Bintang Bhayangkara, Third eight years and have good resulf and Class obverse good ethical conduct (Article 29) . Fol-
(Private collection) lowing this requirement of eight year
service, an online medal shop calls this
award 'Meritorious Service Medal for Eight Years' Service'6.
The medal I bought has signs of forgery or, at least, of inadequacy to the official description. The reverse of the medal on the Fig. 2 lacks the inscription REPUBLIK INDONESIA on its reverse; its torch pole lacks the required number of capitals and basements; it has only seven flames instead of eight which are necessary, according to the Government Decree No. 204 of 1961 cited above. Actually the medal has approximate resemblance to the official description. I would add that the available pictures of the Bintang Bhayangkara Third Class (National Police Meritorious Service Star) show much more precise images of the
n
National Police emblem . The same Order Third Class from a private collection which I fortunately examined also has the emblem of the National Police of Indonesia (seefig. 3).
The Karya Bhakti or Police Active Service Medal
The two more suspicious cases concern the Police Active Service or Police Memorial Actions Medal, or Satyalencana Karya Bhakti. It was established by the same Government Decree No. 204 of 1961 as the Jana Utama Medal was too. One of the examples is now on sale in the
o
http://www.liverpoolmedals.com/ ; another is in my personal collection (seefigs. 4-7).
Fig. 4: Screenshot of the Police Active Service Medal obverse 25-5-2019from the http://www. l iverpoolmedals. com/Poli ce-Active-service-medal-L9589.html.
Fig. 5: Screenshot of the Police Active Service Medal reverse 25-5-2019from the http://www.liverpoolmedals. com/Poli ce-Active-service-medal-L9589.html.
Fig. 6: The Police Active Service Medal or Satyalencana Karya Bhakti, obverse (Private collection)
Fig. 7: The Police Active Service Medal or Satyalencana Karya Bhakti, reverse (Private collection)
According to the Government Decree No. 204, the Police Active Service Medal is awarded to those policemen who 'took part in events that should be remembered for the progress and development of the National Police' (Article 7, clause 1). The medal may be awarded twice, thrice and fourth; in this case its hanging tape bears one, two or three silvery five-pointed stars respectively (Article 7, clauses 2-3; Article 8, clause 3).
The obverse is formed by the triangle inscribed into the circle of rice and cotton design. In the middle of the triangle there is a torch and the inscription KARYA BHAKTI while in the circle of rice and cotton there are three stars imposed as follows: the first is in the upper part of the medal, right under the suspension, the others are in the lower parts of the circle. If one joins the stars with each other in imagination, there will be the equilateral triangle. The medal is made of silvery metal. Its reverse contains the inscription REPUBLIK INDONESIA (Article 8, clause 1.2). The ribbon measuring 40 mm in length and 35 mm in width has the purple base and the yellow lines of 4 mm wide each on both edges.
'Cotton and rice symbolize welfare as the ultimate goal of all efforts. The triangle and three stars with five angles (Pancasila) symbolize Tribrata as a guideline for each member of the National Police. The torch symbolizes that the Police informs the people and calms them' (Article 8, clause 4).
Examining the objects from the Liverpool Medals Ltd and from my collection, I see a strange picture. Their obverses fit well to the official description (see figs. 4 & 6). But their reverses obviously do not fit the Government requirements (see figs. 5 & 7). The main problem is that both medals lack the inscription REPUBLIK INDONESIA. The item from my collection has an almost blank reverse, with very unclear signs of letters or, better to say, lines which resemble letters but they are obviously different from the usual spelling on the Indonesian state awards (seefig. 7).
The item from the Liverpool Medals has a totally different reverse. It bears the inscription RAKSAKA D and GOM IX as well as the image of the Bird-of-Paradise (see fig. 5). There are the components of the obverse of another Indonesian medal-Satyalencana Raksaka Dharma or Satyalencana Gerakan Operasi Militer IX established by the Government Decree No. 26 from the October 4, 19699. Its obverse can be seen on the fig. 8. This medal was awarded to the Indonesian military personnel who acted in military operations in West Irian since August 25, 1965.
Fig. 8: Satyalencana Raksaka Dharma or Satyalencana Gerakan Operasi Militer IX, obverse (Private collection)
Conclusion
Certainly, all the three medals examined above may be official issues while their drawbacks may be results of local manufacture and/or haste during their making. But they also may be unofficial issues as well as modern forgeries. Their discrepancies with the Government Decree No. 204 of 1961 are striking and hardly can be incidental. Be that as it may, these items are interesting examples of contemporary medal market.
References
Faulconbridge, Barry G. "The Ribbons of the Orders, Decorations and Medals of the Republic of Indonesia", Journal of the Orders and Medals Society of America (JOMSA), vol. 36, no. 3, March 1985, pp. 10-20.
Zakharov, Anton O. "The Guerilla Star and campaign medals of Indonesia: history and symbolism of early Indonesian awards" (Захаров А.О. К истории формирования наградной системы Индонезии: Партизанская звезда и кампанейские медали), HyMÍ3MamuKa i фалеристика. Довiдково-iнформацiйний журнал = Numizmatika i faleristika. International Coin Trend Magazine. 2019. № 2 (90). Квггень-червень. С. 31-39.
Zakharov, Anton O. "Imperial legacies, intercultural connections and the state symbolism: the Star of the Republic of Indonesia," Istoriya: Electronic Journal of Education and Science. 2019 (in press) (Захаров А.О. Имперское наследие, межкультурные связи и государственная символика: к истории главного ордена Индонезии // Электронный научно-образовательный журнал «История». 2019 (в печати)).
1 https://museummiliterku.blogspot.com/2017/05/kosmonot-dan-bintang-republik-indonesia.html, accessed 25-04-2019 see Zakharov 2019
Peraturan Pemerintah Nomor 204 Tahun 1961 Tanda-Tanda Kehorma-tan/Penghargaan Kepolisian Negara;
https://sipuu.setkab.go.id/PUUdoc/2347/pp2041961.htm, accessed 25-04-2019
4 cf. Faulconbridge 1985, p. 17
5 https://www.ndaru.net/wp-content/uploads/PELAKSANAAN-UNDANG-UNDANG-NOMOR-20-TAHUN-2009-TENT.pdf, accessed 25-04-2019
6 https://www.emedals.com/four-medals-from-indonesia-singapore, accessed 25-042019
http://www.liverpoolmedals.com/Police-Honour-star-3rd-class-silvered-L10557.html; https://www.coins-la-galerie-numismatique.com/online-shop/orders-medals/police-honor-star, accessed 25-04-2019
o
http://www.liverpoolmedals.com/Police-Active-service-medal-L9589.html, accessed 25-05-2019
9 https://peraturan.bpk.go.id/Home/Details/70235/pp-no-26-tahun-1969, accessed on 25-5-2019
