Umbul-umbul

[[File:Umbul-umbul Bali Red and White 1.jpg|thumb|Traditional Balinese red and white ''umbul-umbul'' are curved and decorated with ''janur'' (young coconut leaf).]] '''Umbul-umbul''', also called '''rérontek''' or, archaically, '''tunggul''',<ref>{{cite book|last=Hinzler|first=H. I. R.|others=Neubronner van der Tuuk, Herman|title=Catalogue of Balinese Manuscripts in the Library of the University of Leiden and Other Collections in the Netherlands|publisher=Brill Archive|date=1986|pages=300|isbn=90-04-07236-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IxAVAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA300}}</ref> are a type of [[flag]] or [[Pennon|pennant]] made of a strip of cloth whose longer side is attached to a pole.<ref>{{cite book|last=Robson|first=Stuart O.|author2=Wibisono, Singgih |author3=Kurniasih, Yacinta |title=Javanese-English Dictionary|publisher=Tuttle Publishing|date=2002|pages=779|isbn=0-7946-0000-X|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SbiKu52WZr0C&pg=PA779}}</ref> They are used in the traditional culture of [[Java]] and [[Bali]], [[Indonesia]], where they are carried in festivals<ref>{{cite book|last=Bensley|first=Bill|title=Paradise by Design|publisher=Tuttle Publishing|date=2008|pages=116|isbn=978-0-7946-0493-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lu9VJ99vPWEC&pg=PA116}}</ref> and serve other decorative purposes. Red and white Umbul-umbuls are raised throughout Indonesia along streets in August to commemorate the [[Independence Day (Indonesia)|Indonesian independence day]].

Traditional umbul-umbul in Java and Bali are usually curved, because they are posted on [[bamboo]] poles which are flexible and swing in the wind. Traditional umbul-umbul are akin to Balinese ''penjor'', raised during [[Galungan]] festival. ''Penjor'' are curved bamboo poles decorated with woven ''janur'', young coconut leaf that is also the material to make [[ketupat]] woven pouches. The tips are often decorated with woven ''janur'' ornaments. Modern umbul-umbul are usually fixed to straight metal flagpoles.

==Etymology== [[File:Jalan Silang Merdeka Tenggara umbul-umbul.JPG|thumb|Modern ''umbul-umbul'' are posted on straight metal pole.]] A [[Sundanese language]] dictionary of 1862 translates the word "umbul-umbul" as "a banner; any signal, as a flag or other object, hoisted so as to be seen at a distance. Banners carried about the person of native chiefs. A small flag attached to a spear." It also notes that the same word, pronounced differently, means "to come in sight, to show up".<ref>{{cite book|last=Rigg|first=Jonathan|title=A Dictionary of the Sunda Language of Java|publisher=Lange|date=1862|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1PIUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA519}}</ref>

==See also== {{Commons category}} *[[Nobori]], slightly similar Japanese vertical banner

==References== {{reflist}}

[[Category:Types of flags]] [[Category:Javanese culture]] [[Category:Culture of Bali]]