Notes: (a) comprising 5 kelurahan (Batang Beruh, Bintang Hulu, Kuta Gambir, Sidiangkat and Sidikalang Kota) and 6 desa.

Indonesia's date of independence, 17 August 1945, is indicated by the 17-budded cotton plant on the left side, 8 rattan branches in the center, and 45 seeds of rice on a stalk to the right.

[6] Prior to the arrival of the Dutch East India Company, the people of what is now Dairi lived in traditional adat-regulated communities, with unelected local leaders.

After the arrival of the Dutch they established an ethnic-Dutch controleur to be in charge of the Dairi onder afdeling, as well as a native Indonesian demang, or lieutenant.

However, after the Dutch army recaptured nearby East Sumatra in 1947, they chose a new leader for the Dairi area.

Another leader was chosen in 1949; later that year, after the Netherlands and Indonesia signed an agreement for Indonesian independence [7] Farming is a large business in Dairi.