Free Riau Movement (Indonesia)

Gerakan Riau Merdeka (GRM)

Last modified: 2026-11-07 by klaus-michael schneider
Keywords: indonesia | riau | gerakan riau merdeka | crescent and star |
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• Introduction of Free Riau Movement
• Description of the Flag
• Description of the old Flag

See also:

• Indonesia
• Indonesia - Index of all pages

Introduction of Free Riau Movement

The Free Riau Movement (Indonesian: Gerakan Riau Merdeka / GRM) was a political movement in the province of Riau, struggling for local nationalism, self-determination and the independence of Riau from Indonesia, emphasizing. It was officially proclaimed on 15 March 1999. The headquarters are in Pekanbaru, Riau. GRM has been a vocal advocate for the rights of the local people, particularly in terms of managing and benefiting from the region´s rich natural resources. The movement never really materialised into real independence-looking efforts and died out around 2022 due to lack of support and subsequent decentralisation policies by the Indonesian government after President Suharto.
Source:

Description of the Flag

The flag was red with white crescent and star on canton and a dark blue stripe at bottom.
Red stands for courage and bravery of the local people. Blue stands for the sea, natural riches and community. White represents the Islam as core of the cultural identity.
Source:

Description of the old Flag

The old flag looked like that one of Turkey.
Jaume Ollé

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