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View all search resultsThree-finger salute raised high, broad and multifaceted in Indonesia
From movie screens to Southeast Asia's streets, the three-finger salute has evolved from a silent cinematic gesture into Indonesia's potent rallying cry against oligarchy, poverty and ecological collapse.
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Demonstrators hold placards while raising a three-finger salute on Oct. 20, 2026, during a protest in Jakarta that marked the second year of President Prabowo Subianto’s administration and called for an end to wildfires and corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN). (JP/Iqro Rinaldi)
I
n the early morning on Oct. 28, as students, labor groups and civic activists gathered in Jakarta and other Indonesian cities to protest a series of government policies and inaction under the hashtag #IndonesiaSadar (Indonesia aware), social media feeds swelled with three-finger salutes in diverse colors, formats and artistic interpretations. In adopting this gesture, Indonesian demonstrators drew upon imagery from pro-democracy movements across Asia.
Originally popularized by the movie The Hunger Games as a silent expression of defiance by the oppressed citizens of Panem, the three-finger salute was first adopted by student protesters in Thailand following the 2014 military coup and later that year, by demonstrators in Hong Kong during the Umbrella Movement.
The gesture resurfaced in subsequent protest waves across both jurisdictions: in Hong Kong during the 2019-2020 demonstrations as a symbol of resistance against Beijing-backed authorities and in Thailand during the 2020-2021 protests against the military-dominated government. In Thailand, it was also imbued with the French revolutionary ideals of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, loosely translated as "No coup, liberty, democracy".
This cross-fertilization of iconography was cultivated by youth-led activist networks across Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand under the digital banner of the Milk Tea Alliance, a coalition united by a regional beverage culture and a shared commitment to resisting authoritarianism. The alliance subsequently expanded to Myanmar and other Southeast Asian nations, bringing its political ideals and visual vocabulary along. It was in Myanmar, in fact, that the salute achieved its most potent visual impact in the uprising against the February 2021 coup, as three-finger memes, political cartoons, and digital graphics proliferated far beyond street rallies. First raised by healthcare workers leading the Civil Disobedience Movement, the gesture became ubiquitous among youth protesters and inspired widespread creative activism, culminating in an international campaign featuring more than 900 artworks from 23 countries to raise funds for the anti-junta resistance.
In August and September 2025, demonstrators in Indonesia and Nepal followed suit integrating the salute into their repertoires, albeit on a more modest scale, as another global cultural symbol gained traction: the Straw Hat Pirates' Jolly Roger from the Japanese manga and anime series One Piece, emblematic of a crew fighting the autocratic World Government to safeguard personal liberty and marginalized populations.
Indeed, visitors to the recent exhibition The Coup Years, hosted at Dia.lo.gue in South Jakarta by SEA Junction with Humanis, AJAR and Migrant Care showed little familiarity with the three-finger salute and other protest motifs in the displayed photos. Yet, just a few weeks later, the salute surged across Indonesia, cementing its status as a regional rallying sign of creative dissent. The Indonesian demonstrations were deliberately timed to coincide with both the 98th anniversary of the Sumpah Pemuda on Youth Pledge Day and the second anniversary of the Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka administration.
Demonstrators advanced five core demands: Declare the persistent forest and peatland fires in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Papua, along with the resulting transboundary haze, a national disaster; halt fiscal misallocation on populist initiatives such as the free nutritious meal program and the Red and White Cooperatives at the expense of vital public infrastructure and basic services; curb corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN), which critics argue have reached levels unseen since the Soeharto era; guarantee equitable access to affordable education, health care and public services; and cease the militarization of governance while reversing the systematic constriction of civic space and freedom of expression.
