From Paris and Rome to Jakarta, Indonesia, and New York, a curious banner has appeared in protest squares. With hole cheeks, a broad grin and a straw hat with a pink band, the determine is immediately recognizable and has been hoisted by younger demonstrators calling for change. In Kathmandu, Nepal, the place anger on the authorities boiled over in September 2025, the flag turned the defining picture as flames unfold by the gates of Singha Durbar, Nepal’s ornate palace advanced and seat of energy.
The picture, often adorning a flag with a black background, comes from “One Piece,” a much-beloved Japanese manga.
And what started as a fictional pirate crew’s emblem virtually three a long time in the past has turn out to be a strong image of youth-led resistance, showing in demonstrations from Indonesia and Nepal to the Philippines and France.
As a scholar of media and democracy, I see the unfold of the Jolly Roger of the Straw Hats Pirates — which has gone from manga pages to protest squares — for instance of how Gen Z is reshaping the cultural vocabulary of dissent.
Popular culture as political expression
“One Piece” arrived on the start of Gen-Z, created in 1997 by Japanese manga artist Eiichiro Oda.
Since then, it has offered greater than 500 million copies and has a Guinness World File for its publishing success.
It has spawned a long-running TV sequence, live-action movies and a more-than-$20 billion trade, with merchandise licensing alone producing about $720 million annually from Bandai Namco, the corporate finest recognized for creating Pac-Man and Tekken.
At its core, “One Piece” follows Monkey D. Luffy and his crew, the Straw Hat Pirates, as they problem a corrupt world authorities whereas in search of freedom and journey.
For followers, the “One Piece” flag shouldn’t be an off-the-cuff ornament however an emblem of defiance and perseverance. Luffy’s potential to stretch past bodily limits after consuming a magical fruit has turn out to be a strong metaphor for resilience, whereas his unwavering quest for freedom in opposition to unattainable odds resonates with younger individuals navigating political environments marked by corruption, inequality and authoritarian extra.
When protesters undertake this flag, they don’t seem to be merely importing an aesthetic from common tradition, however are drawing on a story already legible to hundreds of thousands.
The flag started cropping up in protests over the previous few years. It was being waved at a “Free Palestine” protest in 2023 in Indonesia and in the identical yr in New York throughout a pro-Palestinian demonstration.
But it surely was in Indonesia in August 2025 that the flag’s political life really took maintain. There, protesters embraced it to voice frustration with authorities insurance policies and mounting discontent over corruption and inequality. The timing coincided with authorities requires patriotic shows throughout independence celebrations, sharpening the distinction between official nationalism and grassroots dissent.
The motion gained momentum when authorities responded with robust criticism of the flag’s use, inadvertently drawing extra consideration to the image. Authorities officers characterised the shows as threats to nationwide unity, whereas protesters considered them as reputable expressions of political frustration.
Why the flag travels
The pace with which the “One Piece” Jolly Roger flag unfold throughout borders displays the digital upbringing of Gen Z. That is the primary cohort to develop up totally on-line, immersed in memes, anime and international leisure franchises. Their political communication depends on what students name “networked publics” — communities that type and act by digital platforms somewhat than formal organizations.
Solidarity on this setting doesn’t require occasion membership or ideology. As a substitute, it relies on shared cultural references. A meme, gesture or flag can immediately carry that means throughout divides of language, faith or geography. This type of connection is constructed on recognizable cultural codes that permit younger individuals to determine with one another even when their political programs differ.
Social media offers this solidarity attain and pace. Movies of Indonesians waving the flag had been clipped and reshared on TikTok and Instagram, reaching audiences far past their unique context. By the point the image appeared in Kathmandu, the Nepalese capital, in September, it already carried the aura of youthful defiance.
Crucially, this was not easy imitation. In Nepal, the flag was tied to anger at youth unemployment and on the ostentatious wealth of political dynasties displayed on-line. In Indonesia, it mirrored disillusionment with patriotic rituals that felt hole in opposition to a backdrop of corruption. In each instances, the Jolly Roger flag labored like open-source code – adaptable regionally however immediately legible elsewhere.
A part of the flag’s effectiveness comes from its ambiguity. Not like a celebration brand, the “One Piece” Jolly Roger flag originates in common tradition, which makes it troublesome for governments to suppress with out showing authoritarian. Through the newest protests in Indonesia, authorities confiscated banners and labeled them treasonous. However such crackdowns solely amplified public frustration.
Fiction as actuality
The “One Piece” flag shouldn’t be alone in being reimagined as a logo of resistance.
Throughout actions worldwide, popular culture and digital tradition have turn out to be a potent sources for activists. In Chile and Beirut, demonstrators wore Joker masks as a visible shorthand for anger at corruption and inequality. In Thailand, demonstrators turned to “Hamtaro,” a kids’s anime a couple of hamster, parodying its theme track and waving plush toys to lampoon political leaders.
This mixing of politics, leisure and private id displays a hybrid media atmosphere during which symbols drawn from fandom acquire energy. They’re straightforward to acknowledge, adapt and defend in opposition to state repression.
But cultural resonance alone doesn’t clarify the attraction. The “One Piece” flag caught on as a result of it captured real-life grievances. In Nepal, the place youth unemployment exceeds 20% and migration for work is widespread, protesters paired the symbol with slogans comparable to “Gen Z received’t be silent” and “Our future shouldn’t be on the market.”
In Indonesia, some protesters argued that the nationwide flag was “too sacred” to be flown in a corrupt system, utilizing the pirate banner as an announcement of disillusionment.
The unfold of the flag additionally displays a broader shift in how protest concepts transfer throughout borders. Previously, what tended to journey had been ways comparable to sit-ins, marches or starvation strikes. Right now, what circulates quickest are symbols, visible references from international tradition that may be tailored to native struggles whereas remaining immediately recognizable elsewhere.
The flag goes international
The flag’s journey from Asian streets to protests in France and Slovakia demonstrates how the grammar of dissent has gone international.
For immediately’s younger activists, tradition and politics are inseparable. Digital nativity has produced a technology that communicates grievances by memes, symbols and cultural references that cross borders with ease.
When protesters in Jakarta, Kathmandu or Manila wave the “One Piece” Jolly Roger flag, they don’t seem to be indulging in play-acting however reworking a cultural icon right into a residing emblem of defiance.
Nuurrianti Jalli, Assistant Professor of Skilled Apply, College of Media and Strategic Communications, Oklahoma State College
This text is republished from The Dialog beneath a Artistic Commons license. Learn the unique article.
