---
title: 'Bangsa "Merdeka", Negara "Merdeka": Inilah Tudjuan Kita! (Free Nation, Free State: This Is Our Goal!)'
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bangsa-merdeka-negara-merdeka-1948/
description: A stencilled purple-ink poster shows an armed soldier under the slogan 'Bangsa Merdeka, Negara Merdeka. Inilah tujuan kita!
section: Collection
---

[Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)

[![Bangsa "Merdeka", Negara "Merdeka": Inilah Tudjuan Kita! (Free Nation, Free State: This Is Our Goal!)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/bangsa-merdeka-negara-merdeka-1948.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/bangsa-merdeka-negara-merdeka-1948.jpg)

# Bangsa "Merdeka", Negara "Merdeka": Inilah Tudjuan Kita! (Free Nation, Free State: This Is Our Goal!)

A stencilled purple-ink poster shows an armed soldier under the slogan 'Bangsa Merdeka, Negara Merdeka. Inilah tujuan kita! Teguhkan iman!' A rubber stamp names a Malang guerrilla unit of the Indonesian National Army. The tell: 'merdeka' (free) is the whole argument, printed twice in quotation marks, with no programme or claim attached.

- **Date:** 1948
- **Period:** [Cold War](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#era=cold-war)
- **Made by:** Compie Sampoerno, K.D.M. Lumadjang, Malang guerrilla II, Tentara Nasional Indonesia (named on the poster's rubber stamp)
- **Region:** [Southeast Asia](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#region=southeast-asia)
- **Country:** [Republic of Indonesia](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#country=republic-of-indonesia)
- **Medium:** [Poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#medium=poster)
- **Issuer type:** [Military](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#actor=military)
- **Regime:** [Republic of Indonesia](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#regime=republic-of-indonesia)
- **Leader:** [Mohammad Hatta](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#leader=mohammad-hatta)
- **Audience:** [Domestic public](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#audience=domestic-public)
- **Purpose:** [Reassure](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#purpose=reassure)
- **Themes:** [War and the military](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=war-military), [Empire and colonialism](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=empire-colonialism)
- **Event:** [Indonesian National Revolution](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#event=indonesian-national-revolution)
- **Techniques:** [Glittering generalities](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/glittering-generalities/)
- **Source:** Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- **Source:** [Wikimedia Commons (KITLV / Leiden University Libraries, KITLV 37C305)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Affiche_Bangsa_merdeka,_negara_merdeka,_KITLV_37C305.tiff), retrieved September 29, 2026
- **Rights:** CC BY 4.0 (KITLV / Leiden University Libraries, stated on the Commons file page) KITLV / Leiden University Libraries, shelfmark KITLV 37C305 (hdl.handle.net/1887.1/item:852494), CC BY 4.0.

## Text on the object

Original (Indonesian) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
BANGSA "MERDEKA"
NEGARA "MERDEKA"
INILAH TUDJUAN KITA!
TEGUHKAN IMAN!

[round rubber stamp, lower right:] COMPIE SAMPOERNO / K.D.M. LUMADJANG / MALANG / GERILJA / II / [T]ENTARA NASIONAL INDONESIA
```

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

```
NATION "FREE"
STATE "FREE"
THIS IS OUR GOAL!
STRENGTHEN YOUR FAITH!

[round rubber stamp:] SAMPOERNO COMPANY / K.D.M. LUMADJANG / MALANG / GUERRILLA / II / [T]ENTARA NASIONAL INDONESIA (Indonesian National Army)
```

Spelling is the pre-1947 orthography (dj for j). The first letter of 'TENTARA' on the stamp is partly worn, so it is bracketed. Translation is FRAME's own literal rendering, machine-assisted and not verified by a fluent reader.

[← Nachrichten für die Truppe, No. 358, 9 April 1945](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/nachrichten-fuer-die-truppe-1945/) [총선거 5월 10일 (General Election, May 10): 총선거로 독립문은 열린다 (The General Election Opens the Independence Gate) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/general-election-may-10-poster-south-korea-1948/)

## Using the same techniques

- [Gold solidus of Constantine I, reverse RESTITVTORI LIBERTATIS](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/solidus-constantine-i-restitutori-libertatis-0313/) (0313 · Glittering generalities)
- [Gold solidus of Justinian I, reverse VICTORIA AVGGG with Victory holding a Christogram staff](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/solidus-justinian-i-victoria-avggg-0538/) (0538 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Frontispiece to Eikon Basilike, The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in his Solitudes and Sufferings (Hollar, 1649)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/eikon-basilike-frontispiece-hollar-1649/) (1649 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Trois Tetes sous l'meme bonnet (three heads under the same cap)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/trois-tetes-sous-le-meme-bonnet-1789/) (1789 · Plain folks, Glittering generalities)
- [Proclamation by the Queen in Council, to the Princes, Chiefs, and People of India (printed sheet, Allahabad, 1 November 1858)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/queens-proclamation-to-the-people-of-india-1858/) (Nov 1, 1858 · Glittering generalities, Scapegoating)
- [The Great Battle of Ansong Ford: The Valor of Captain Matsuzaki](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ansong-ford-toshikata-1894/) (1894 · Glittering generalities)
- ['The Congress Cross or "Swastik"' (Pickings from the Hindi Punch, Bombay, February 1896)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/hindi-punch-congress-swastik-1896/) (Feb 1896 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Un combate en el río Zapote (A Fight on the Zapote River), Blanco y Negro](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/un-combate-en-el-rio-zapote-1898/) (Jul 9, 1898 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)