Symbols borrowed from pop culture have always appeared at protest sites around the world, regardless of time and place, like the three-finger salute from the hit Hollywood film "The Hunger Games," or the masks seen in "Joker" and "V for Vendetta."
A new symbol has appeared at Generation Z (those born from the mid-1990s to the early 2010s) protest sites sweeping Asia, including Indonesia and Nepal. It is a pirate flag with a skull wearing a straw hat on a black background. In the popular Japanese manga "One Piece," the protagonist hoists this flag on the mast and sets out on adventures. Young people in Asia who are standing up to corrupt power have put forward this manga flag, unfamiliar to the older generation, as a new icon of resistance and solidarity.
This pirate flag appeared earlier this month at Singha Durbar, the administrative complex in Kathmandu, Nepal's capital. Enraged by government corruption and nepotism, young people held fierce protests calling for the prime minister to step down. They hung the pirate flag that represents them on the main gate of the palace, which serves as the parliament building.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 24th (local time), the flag originates from "One Piece," a work by Japanese manga artist Oda Eiichiro that has been serialized for nearly 30 years since 1997. "One Piece" tells the story of protagonist Monkey D. Luffy fighting against a corrupt world government and violent rulers. In the manga, the protagonist forms the "Straw Hat Pirates" with his companions, resists injustice, and sails in search of freedom. They are generally closer to social underdogs or misfits, but they fight according to their own moral compass against systemic abuses of power. In the manga, this flag symbolizes freedom, resistance, and camaraderie in the face of oppression.
The One Piece pirate flag first emerged prominently in protests in Indonesia last month before Nepal. Generation Z in Indonesia staged large-scale nationwide demonstrations against elite privilege after the legislature said it would pay lawmakers a monthly housing allowance of 50 million rupiah (about 4.3 million won). In some regions, in opposition to a government push encouraging the raising of the Indonesian national flag ahead of a public holiday, people hoisted the One Piece pirate flag. When local authorities announced plans to crack down on the flag, the One Piece pirate flag became a symbol of defiance expressing disillusionment with a corrupt government. After protests intensified and even casualties occurred, the Indonesian government shifted toward reducing or cutting lawmakers' benefits. Soon, the One Piece pirate flag came to carry not only the meaning of resistance but also of victory.
Having taken root as a "talisman of victory," the pirate flag quickly spread across borders throughout South Asia. Nepal's protesters embraced the flag, which spread in Indonesia, as a marker of a "youth rebellion." One Piece pirate flags were also spotted in the Philippines, where intense protests have been underway this month. The Guardian in the United Kingdom reported, "As tens of thousands of Filipinos took to the streets on the 20th, the Straw Hat Pirates' flag fluttered above the crowd." The Guardian called it "a symbol of Generation Z liberation in Asia."
Recently, the One Piece pirate flag has become a common language of Generation Z resistance that spans the globe beyond Asia. The flag waved in France and the United States, far from South Asia. In France, protesters across the country demonstrating against cuts to public spending carried the One Piece pirate flag. France is the second-largest market for One Piece volumes after Japan. In the United States, the flag appeared at a Los Angeles protest opposing immigration enforcement and at a New York protest criticizing Apple over the use of cobalt from African mines.
Experts said the One Piece flag holds a special appeal for Generation Z. The manga is a hit that has sold more than 500 million copies worldwide. Guinness World Records in 2022 recognized One Piece as "the most copies published for the same comic book series by a single author." In second place is "Dragon Ball," which has sold 260 million copies, roughly half of One Piece. Japanese manga expert Andrea Horbinski told CNN, "Luffy is very decisive in everything, and despite countless setbacks, he never gives up and keeps moving toward his goal." She added, "Protesters in each country relate to this when they pick up the flag."
Generation Z leading the protests are "digital natives" who have experienced the internet since birth. They share cultural codes like memes, videos, and images through social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. When they share the same work, language and borders are not obstacles. Omni, a Swedish culture outlet, noted, "Animation and manga serve as a kind of 'lingua franca' for young people around the world."
Characters and props in manga do not clearly reveal a specific race or nationality. Readers around the world can easily empathize. Roland Kelts, a professor at Waseda University, told the WSJ, "Luffy, the protagonist of One Piece, becomes 'your own Luffy' instantly, no matter where you live or what language you speak."
Experts said the One Piece pirate flag shows what participatory culture is, in which fans of manga go beyond simply consuming culture to recreate meaning directly through cosplay, fan fiction, and participation in protests. The organizers of the Nepal protests said, "We wanted it to feel like a Generation Z movement, so we used slogans and symbols that Generation Z could relate to." Nuriyanti Jalil of Oklahoma State University told CNN, "Pop culture symbols help elevate what people want to say without having to explain every detail."
A single flag from a manga cannot change a corrupt regime or solve an unequal social structure. Still, academia noted that Generation Z, rather than following the conventions of established politics, is forging cross-border solidarity through pop culture codes familiar to them.
Henry Jenkins, a media scholar at the University of Southern California, said in an interview with CBC, "Popular culture stimulates the civic imagination of young people," adding, "That imagination enables participatory politics and lays the groundwork for students to develop the capacity to communicate their grievances in ways that can spread."