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
- Made by
- Compie Sampoerno, K.D.M. Lumadjang, Malang guerrilla II, Tentara Nasional Indonesia (named on the poster's rubber stamp)
- Region
- Southeast Asia
- Country
- Republic of Indonesia
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Military
- Regime
- Republic of Indonesia
- Leader
- Mohammad Hatta
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Reassure
- Themes
- War and the military, Empire and colonialism
- Event
- Indonesian National Revolution
- Techniques
- Glittering generalities
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons (KITLV / Leiden University Libraries, KITLV 37C305), 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
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
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.
