The song was introduced by its composer, Wage Rudolf Supratman, on 28 October 1928 during the Youth Pledge in Jakarta.

[1] The song marked the birth of the archipelago nationalist movement in Indonesia that aims to gain independence from Dutch colonial rule.

The first newspaper to openly publish the musical notation and lyrics of "Indonesia Raya"—an act of defiance towards the Dutch authorities—was the Chinese Indonesian weekly Sin Po.

Jozef Cleber, a Dutch composer, created an arrangement of the tune for philharmonic orchestra on August 17, 1950, when the island of Sumatra became an integral part of the Republic of Indonesia.

The flag is raised in a solemn and timed motion so that it reaches the top of the flagpole as the anthem ends.

The main flag raising ceremony is held annually on 17 August to commemorate Independence day.

During the rendition or singing of the national anthem, all present should stand, face toward the music, and pay respect.

Members of the Armed Forces, and other persons in uniform (e.g. secondary school students) must render the military salute.

Upon hearing about the efforts, young reporter Wage Rudolf Soepratman contacted the organizers of Congress with the intention of reporting the story, but they requested that he not publish the story from fear of Dutch colonial authorities.

After receiving encouragement from the conference leader Sugondo Djojopuspito, Soepratman played the song on the violin, hoping that it would someday become their national anthem.

All one thousand copies of the manuscript were sold within a short amount of time to his friends and family.

[12] A businessman friend of his, Yo Kim Tjan, also expressed interest in recording "Indonesia Raya".

According to Yo, Soepratman had also given him the rights to sell record copies of "Indonesia Raya" through his store Toko Populair.

Thus in 1950, The Indonesian Government made an appeal to Jozef Cleber to compose a symphonic rendition of "Indonesia Raya".

Indonesia Raya was recorded under Cleber's direction on a newly acquired Phillips recorder in early 1951 with musicians from all three radio orchestras of RRI Jakarta and the tape was played for President Sukarno's approval.

Sukarno found the performance too frilly and asked for something like the red and white Indonesian flag, and in the grave tempo of the Dutch anthem Wilhelmus.

Cleber considered this last impossible, though he discerned some of the character of the Marseillaise in the tune and made a second arrangement marked maestoso con bravura as a compromise.

This met Sukarno's approval, but he requested that the climax be prepared by a grazioso ("Liefelijk") section.

The arrangement starts with a Tutti of strings and trumpets (in Verse A) that represents a brave and an elegant sound, and in the middle of the song (in Verse B) is played smoothly by strings, and finally (in Verse C) comes another Tutti of strings and trumpets, together with the timpani, snare drums and cymbals, giving it a brave sound fitting for a national anthem that was respected by the people.

After Soepratman's death in 1938, ownership of the rights to his works fell upon the designated heirs, his four surviving sisters.

[17] As a national anthem, copies of "Indonesia Raya" cannot be circulated as merchandise to be sold.

Consequently, the government had the obligation to obtain all the rights to distribute the song, including the original recording, from Yo Kim Tjan.

With the recommendation of the Department of Education, the government also rewarded Soepratman's sisters with 250,000 Indonesian rupiah each on 31 May 1960.

On 28 October 1953, on the 25th anniversary of the anthem, the Harian Umum daily published their own English, German, and Dutch translations of the song.

𝄇 رفراين 𝄆 Indonesia, my homeland The land where I shed my blood Right there, I stand To be a guide of my motherland.