Royal recognition for West Papua to become an independent state

West Papua was colonised by the Netherlands in 1898, along with the islands that now make up Indonesia. When the Republic of Indonesia became an independent nation state in 1949, West Papua remained under Dutch control. The Dutch government began preparing West Papua for its own independence throughout the 1950s. At the end of 1961, West Papua held a Congress at which its people declared independence, and raised their new Morningstarflag and sang the West Papuan anthem ‘Hai Tanahku Papua wich were officially inaugurated under Royal recognition.