India, Aug. 8 -- Over the past month, a familiar skull-and-crossbones motif from a Japanese anime has appeared across Indonesia - not in cosplay conventions, but in the streets, on car windows, and painted on alley walls. The pirate emblem from popular anime One Piece, carried by the show's protagonist Monkey D. Luffy, has been repurposed as a rebellious symbol in the world's third-largest democracy, rallying against government policies just weeks before their Independence Day on August 17.

The flood of flags came after President Prabowo Subianto urged Indonesians to proudly raise the national red and white flag ahead of Independence Day. Instead, some have opted for Luffy's banner - a decision many see as a direct challenge to the state...