INDONESIA
THE EUROPEAN PRESENCE
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Archeological findings trace the history
of modern-day Jakarta back to the fifth century. By the 16th century, it was
a thriving port city known as Sunda Kelapa. At that time, the Hindu kingdom
of Pajajaran ruled the area from a place now known as Bogor, in the hills
outside Jakarta. By the time Columbus headed to the East
in search of spices, Sunda Kelapa had already developed into a major trading
port. Among the first foreigners to set foot here were the Portuguese. In
1522, they made a mutually beneficial agreement with the Pajajaran Kingdom. In
return for access to valuable spices, the Portuguese defended the Hindus from
the Islamic sultanate of Demak. Nevertheless, on 22 June 1527, the
Javanese Prince Fatahillah, of the Demak Sultanate, successfully defeated the
Portuguese armed forces at the site of the Sunda Kelapa. The city was then
renamed Jayakarta, meaning “a glorious victory”. After their setting foot ashore in Sunda
Kelapa the Portuguese erected a landmark, a so called padrao, as a
sign of the annexation of the territory for the king of Portugal. Other padraos
are known from the African coast in todays Angola and Namibia. The Sunda Kelapa padrao was
excavated in 1918 in the then
Prinsestraat, eastern side at the corner of the Groenestraat in Batavia
(today’s Jakarta). On the authority of the historian De Barros it is known
that the King of Sunda allowed (the Portuguese mariner) Enrique Leme to built
a fortress on the right side of the river (kali) near Kelapa. The padrao
was found there. The padrao, preserved in the
National Museum of Jakarta, shows the Portuguese armillary sphere which is
the symbol of the Portuguese
Empire. Below the letters [S]POR SE[R] ..
NTO (?) are visible. (Photo National Museum Jakarta). |
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In 1595 a
small Dutch fleet under Cornelis Houtman
had set sail for the Indies. This expedition had proved that there was
no need for the Dutch to depend on Portugal
for their trade with the East. Many more voyages followed and in 1596
the Dutch settled in Bantam. Several
companies were formed. Houtman himself was commissioned by the Compagnie
van Verre (“Company for the Trade Beyond”) and the seal of this company
is still preserved on an undated document, bearing the signatures of the
directors Jan Jansz, Kaerel, Diederik van Os and Cornelis van Campen. These
directors were appointed in 1599 and it is therefore safe to assume that the
document was written in that time. The seal shows the impression of a
merchant sign, consisting of the letters C.V.V., held together by a vertical
line. [1]
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De Verenigde Oostindische
Compagnie The Dutch East India
Company |
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The history of The Dutch East India Company, chartered on 20 March 1602 by the States-General of the Netherlands,
was to expand trade and assure close relations between the government and its
colonial enterprises in Asia. The company was granted a monopoly on Dutch
trade East of the Cape of Good Hope and West of the Strait of Magellan. The charter (octrooi) was
granted for a period of twenty years but was prolonged for the first time
even before 1623. In its history such prolongations occurred seven times. For
much of this time it was the world’s largest trading company, owning, at the
height of its wealth and power, more than half the world’s sea-going shipping
– with its characteristic ship, the ‘fluyt’, also being produced for the
merchant marines of other countries, including England. It was known
internationally by its distinctive VOC monogram, the initials standing for
‘Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie’ – or simply the United East India Company.
Those who organized it did not find it necessary to add that it was ‘Dutch’ –
in the commercial world of its time no-one needed to be told that, and
indeed, at the beginning of the seventeenth century ‘Dutch’ was only
beginning to be identified with an independent state. The VOC played not only
a key role in the history of the Netherlands, but also in that of the other
states in which it was involved, from England, France, Spain and Portugal in
Europe and a number of principalities, sultanates and empires along the
coasts of Africa and Asia, going as far as Japan and China. From its headquarters at Batavia
(founded 1619) the company subdued local rulers, drove the British and
Portuguese from Indonesia, Malaya, and Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and monopolized the
fabulous trade of the Spice Islands. A colony, established (1652) in South
Africa at the Cape of Good Hope, remained Dutch until conquered by Great
Britain in 1814. The VOC’s operations were entirely maritime, at least in principle, and,
until late in the eighteenth century, its ports of call were in no sense part
of a Dutch colonial empire. Its ships, although built for transporting goods,
were often involved in war, from the North Sea to the furthest extremes of
its trading empire – so much so that at one time or another battles at sea were fought off almost every coast where the company
operated. In 1796 the last prolongation of the
charter (octrooi) ended. The Company being almost insolvent by then,
it was only because new ways for the relations with Asia had to be explored
first, that the charter and the VOC were continued. On 17 March 1798 the VOC
was formally declared bankrupt and
dissolved. Its debts and possessions were taken over by the Batavian Republic and
came under the jurisdiction of the Raad der Asiatische Bezittingen en
Etablissementen. (Council for the Asiatic Possessions and Establishments). In the
time when the former Kingdom of Holland was a part of the French Empire most
of these “posessions and establishments” were conquered or occupied by Great
Britain. In the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 they were divided between the
Netherlands and Great Britain. |
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A cypher for
the Company was adopted by the Lords XVII, the ruling council of the Company,
on 28 February 1603. It consists of the letters V, O and C, the O and the C
through the arms of the V. [2]
VOC Cypher from the Castle
of Cape of Good Hope |
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1743 Batu
Bersurat or Rock of the Tiger
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On a short distance from Fort Dindings (Malaysia) there is a rock
called Batu Bersurat (Holy Written Rock). It is a huge massive granite stone with the inscription: “1743 I.F. CRALO
and the cypher of the VOC. Also we may see a tiger or lion. The story goes that a Dutch boy was playing near this stone. Suddenly
the child disappeared and although people has looked for him intensively, he
was never found back. It was supposed that the tiger had taken away the boy. Local Malaysian people however say that it is more likely that an
angry Malaysian has taken the child with him. |
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The inscription on the stone shows the letters mentioned somewhat to the
left, and out of sight on this photo, and also the capitals W.P.D. The two outlines depict two coats of arms,
the one of the left charged with the lion of the States General of the Dutch
Republic, the one on the right with the cypher of the VOC. Alas for the nice
romantic story! ð Look for: Batu
Bersurat. |
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The
symbol of the United East India Company was a three-masted man-of-war
displaying the flags of the Republic. In the 17th century this man-of-war was
sailing to the dexter. About the end of the that century its course was reversed to sailing
to the sinister. |
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Stone from the Waterpoort of the demolished
Fort of Batavia showing a man-of-war. On the main mast the flag of the States
General of the Republic (her ship-owner) being yellow with a red lion, armed
with a sword and a bundle of arrows. The jack and the flags on the fore mast,
the mizzen and the stern striped. [3] |
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The most
important fort of the VOC was in Batavia, on the Isle of Java in India. In 1619
Jan Pietersz. Coen had started the construction of the fort, immediately
after he had set fire to Jacatra. The fort had to protect the city from
attacks from the sea and was manned with many soldiers. Also it was the
residence of the governor. Near it the most important storehouses of the
Company were built. After 1621 the Fort of Batavia was the most important
settlement of the Company in East India. |
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Two other ship-symbols of the VOC. The one on the left, on a medallion from 1648, maybe a pinas with the flag of the VOC (her ship-owner) on the main mast. The legend runs: Generaale Vereenichde Oostindische Company. The one on the right from the castle of the Cape, 1666. Below the ship: C D G HOOP (Caap de Goede Hoop). |
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1775 The emblem of the
man-of war on the gate of New Victoria in Ambon. The man-of-war sailing to the sinister and
the legend in latin: ita reliquenda ut
accepta. (Everything has to be left behind as it has been received).
Arms of the Republic between the date ANNOC MDCCLXXV, the cypher of the VOC
and the arms of the chambers (from left to right): Amsterdam, Zeeland, Delft,
Rotterdam, Hoorn, Enkhuizen. |
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On the
seals of the Company there was a ship. The oldest print shows a man-of-war
sailing to the dexter. A print of 1684 shows the ship sailing to the sinister
and versions from the last years of the Company have the ship always sailing
to the sinister. This implies, taking the ships-symbols of the Company
mentioned above into account, that the direction the ship sailed was reversed
in the time of Stadholder William III |
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Examples
of seals of the company, from left to right: a. Ship sailing to the dexter and the
legend: uyt de vloot door h.h: ede
afgesonden. (Sent from the fleet by their Lordships).[4] b. Ship sailing to the sinister and the
letters D O C (Directoraat Oostindische Compagnie). On a treaty with Bantam
1684.03.20. This is the seal of the Governor General and Councillors. [5] c.
Print of the seal of “De Bewindhebbers van d’Oost Ind. Compagnie ten Kaamer
Amsterdam” Amsterdam, dated 1762.09.11.[6] d.
Print of the seal of P. de Neufville on:
“een heuchlyke officieele tyding van het sluyten der Vreede
tusschen de Fransche Republiek en den Keiser” Amsterdam,
1797.10.30, the third year of the Batavian Liberty. [7]
With the letters D O C A
(Directoraat Oostindische Compagnie Amsterdam)
Seal of the Cape settlement. The
man-of-war sailing to the sinister, the flag of the company with the cypher
in the main mast. Below is the title C D G HOOP (Caap de Goede Hoop) |
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A seal of
the company was even used after the liquidation of the Company. It is on a
treaty between Walbeeck and Sultan Anum of Cheribon dated 1 November 1799 and
on a treaty between Cheribon and Nic. Engelhard dated 1 September 1806. On
these prints are the ship sailing to the sinister and the letters D O C. [8] |
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In the early years of the Company, by default
of an achievement of the Company
itself, some arms and achievements of
other administrative bodies seem to have been used. This can be seen on an
engraving depicting the VOC main office (Hoofdcomptoir) of Suratte on the Indian west coast
(existing 1616-1795). [9] At the entrance there were the
arms of Holland, in the inner court the achievement of Zeeland. The arms of
Holland, called the arms of ‘Noort Holland’ here, are according to the
hatching visible ‘Gules, a lion rampant guardant Or’. These arms may represent
the chambers of Hoorn and Enkhuizen and may have been designed for the
purpose. The achievement of Zeeland
(for the Middelburg chamber) consists of the crowned arms of Zeeland (per fess wavy in chief Or, a lion rampant Gules and in base barry wavy Azure and Argent)
supported by two savages armed with clubs. This is a very uncommon version of
the achievement of Zeeland and may also have been designed for the purpose.
Above the achievement we can read the date ‘1625’ which is probably the year
in which the inner court was finished.
[10] |
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The arms of Noort Holland at the entrance, and the achievement of
Zeeland in the inner court of the Hoofdcomptoir of Suratte. On the
roof is a weathercock in the form of a (VOC) ship. Details from “De Logie
van Svratte” by Isaac
Commelin (1646). |
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In the
second quarter of the 17th century there appears a coat of arms of the
Company. This shows the symbol of the ship, sailing to the dexter. The
earliest versions of the achievement known have different supporters. The one
from Malacca, probably the oldest, has a Victoria with a palm-leaf and a VOC-soldier with a
shield with the VOC cypher as supporters. The one from Hoorn, dated 1648 but
maybe also older (as the work describes a voyage that took place in 1619) has
a Dutch and an oriental tradesman as supporters. The
definite version of the achievement was painted by Jeronimus Becx the Younger
in 1651, that is to say in the first year of the Stadholderless era
(1650-1672). The arms
shows a Dutch man-of-war of 14 guns, sailing to the dexter. She is flying the
flags of the VOC from the fore and the main mast as well as from the stern.
On the mizzen is the flag and on the bowsprit the jack of Middelburg (showing
a golden castle on a blue field). This makes it likely that a Middelburg
man-of-war is depicted and this matches with the fact that the painter was
from Middelburg.. As a
crest there is a trophy of armoury, a drum, a cross-staff, a sun-dial and a
compass together with a flag of three stripes orange, white and blue and an
orange flag. These flags are the war ensign of the Republic and the flag of
the admiral-general of the Republic. They in their turn make it likely that
the painting was started before 1650 and the (temporary) abolition of the
offices of captain- and admiral-general of the Republic. [11]) In a fourth version the flag on the stern is
exchanged for a red flag with the golden lion of the States General. This may
be the flag of William III as an admiral-general of the Republic (1672-1702).
This version occurs at the end of the 17th and in the 18th century. |
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(Photo
H.d.V. 06.11.’80) Achievement of the VOC on the Porta de Santiago, city of Malacca. Arms: A
17th century man-of-war. Supporters:
D.: Victoria with a palmleaf; S. A VOC-soldier in full armour bearing a
shield charged with the cypher of the VOC. Around the achievement is a trophy of
armoury. Above the gate is the date ANNO 1670. Malacca was conquered by the Dutch in 1641
and occupied by the British in 1795. |
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Achievement of the VOC
with the arms of the city of Hoorn and the cypher of the Hoorn-chamber. A
Dutch and an Oriental tradesman serve as supporters. On the frontispiece of “Iovrnael ofte Gedenckwaerdige
beschrijvinghe vande Oost-Indische Reyse van Willem Ysbrantsz Bontekoe van
Hoorn.” Hoorn, 1648 |
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1651 The
achievement of the VOC by Jeronimus Becx the Younger. Rijksmuseum Amsterdam,. Cat. van schilderijen n° 2988) Arms: A
Dutch man-of-war with 14 guns, on waves of the sea. Crest: An
armillary-sphere surrounded by a trophy of armoury, nautical instruments and
flags Supporters: Dexter Neptune and sinister
Providentia. Compartment:
An arrangement of exotic sea-shells. Above the achievement is the cypher of the
VOC on a shield. Download this picture from the Rijksmuseum
site. |
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Engraving of the achievement of the VOC. On
18th c. publications of the VOC. In comparison with the arms of 1651 the ship has considerably more guns. On the main is the flag of the ship-owner (the VOC) on the stern the flag supposed to be of the States General as the supreme commander of the navy. Also the trophy is somewhat rearranged. |
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Cushion for the seat of Mr. Hendrik Carbasius, accountant and governor
of the VOC in Hoorn. 1739. Westfries
Museum, Hoorn. Achievement
like the achievement of the engraving. |
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The company
was divided in six chambers that is to say (in alphabetical order) the
chambers of Amsterdam, Delft, Enkhuizen, Hoorn, Middelburg and Rotterdam.
These chambers differentiated the
cypher of the Company by adding the
first letter of the name of the city of its seat. There
were also important settlements in the Cape, Ceylon, Malacca and Batavia, the
capital of the Company in the east. These settlements differentiated the
VOC-cypher in the same way. Throughout
the territories under the jurisdiction of the VOC the chambers were
symbolized by their arms. There are examples from this known from Batavia,
the Cape and Ambon (as illustrated above). The arms
of the six chambers were: Amsterdam: Gules, a pale sable charged with
three crosses of St. Andrew Argent. Delft: Argent, a pale Azure Enkhuizen: Azure, three herrings Argent,
crowned Or, between four eight-pointed stars of the last in pale. Hoorn: Argent a bugle horn Gules,
banded Or and stringed Azure, tasseled Or. Middelburg: Gules, a tower Or. Also: Or, a
lion Gules issuant from a base barry
wavy Azure and Argent (Zeeland). Rotterdam: Vert, a pale Argent, and a chief
quarterly Or a lion Sable and Or a lion Gules. For more
detailed information about these arms see: Heraldry of the World (Netherlands). |
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Amsterdam |
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Arms
with the cypher of the Amsterdam Chamber on the rope-walk of the company in
Amsterdam.
Another
cypher of the Amsterdam Chamber above the entrance of VOC-warehouses in Amsterdam. |
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Delft |
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Arms with the cypher of the Delft Chamber with two lions as supporters. 1631. |
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Enkhuizen |
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Arms
with the cypher of the Enkhuizen Chamber on the façade of the Oostindisch
Huis Kade,
Enkhuizen.
Cypher
of the Enkhuizen Chamber On
a cannon, Museum Bronbeek, Arnhem |
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Hoorn |
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Arms
with the cypher of the Hoorn Chamber with four cupids as supporters
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Middelburg |
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Arms
with cypher of the Chamber of Middelburg with two mermaids for
supporters. 1671. On
the VOC storehouse at the Breestraat, Middelburg, destroyed 1940.
Cypher
of the Chamber of Middelburg,1661 On
the office of the Chief Master of Equipment of the VOC at the Maisbaai,
Middelburg
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Rotterdam |
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Cypher
of the VOC chamber of Rotterdam above
the entrance door of its seat in the Boompjes
Cypher
of the Rotterdam Chamber on a bronze cannon (Museum Bronbeek, Arnhem) |
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Ceylon |
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Photo
Ineke Rekers, X.’96 Achievement of the VOC settlement in the city
of Galle on the gate of a storehouse in Galle (Ceylon), dated ANNO MDCLXIX
(1669) Arms: The cypher of the VOC Crest: A cock (Galle) Supporters: Two lions
guardant.
Arms
of the VOC-comptoir or troops in Batavia 1660. On
a bronze cannon in Museum Bronbeek, Arnhem Arms: The cypher VOC Crest:
The sailing ship
of the VOC The arms
within a decorative frame and a cartouche with the name BATAVIA ANNO 1660 below |
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Cape VOC-cypher. On
the VOC Kruithuis or Powder Magazine, Stellenbosch, 1777 |
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Batavia |
Cape |
Johor |
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VOC-cypher
of Batavia with sword and crown |
VOC-cypher
of the Cape and/or of Ceylon on a 6 stuiver piece, 1791. |
VOC-cypher
of Johor on a coin discovered in the Straits of Malacca |
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Negapatnam |
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VOC-arms
of Negapatnam, the capital of the
Coromandel settlements. [12] |
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1798 -1806 |
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In the
time the possessions of the former VOC were administered by the Batavian
Republic it was under the supervision of the Council of the Asiatic Possessions
and Establishments (Raad der Asiatische Bezittingen en Etablissementen.) The Batavian Republic introduced the use of the emblem of the sovereign in the colonies and this was continued by the following administrations. First this emblem consisted of an altar charged with an anchor and a dolphin, supported by a lion with the national flag and the Batavian Virgin with spear an hat of Liberty. The legend of these stamps read “raad der asiat(ische): bezitt(ingen): en etabl(issementen) der bataafsche / republiek”. [13] In 1802
the emblem was changed into a lion rampant, armed with a sword and a bundle
of arrows. On the
stamps for use by the councils the emblem of state was surrounded by the legend
“raad der asiat(ische): bezitt(ingen): en etabl(issementen)”.[14] Nevertheless
on a florin for circulation in the colonies there appeared the old symbols of
the Company and of the States General: a ship sailing to the sinister and the
crowned arms with the lion with sword and arrows. This time the symbols can be considered as
the symbols of the territory and of its ruler.
Silver “scheepjesgulden”
of the Batavian Republic, 1802. Æ
34 mm. On the obverse a ship with the legend indiæ batavorum (1802), on the
reverse the crowned arms of the Executive (the successor of the States
General in 1801) with the legend MO ARG ORD FŒD BELG HOL. (Coll. Het Nederlands Muntmuseum). |
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THE KINGDOM OF HOLLAND |
1806 - 1811 |
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In the
time of the First Kingdom the symbol of the sovereign was
the arms of King Louis Napoleon and we
see it in the head of the “Bataviasche Koloniale Courant” from 1810 on which
are the arms adopted in 1807. [15]
From 1807
until 1814 the ministries for the navy and the colonies were united. From
1807 until 1811 the seal of this ministry showed the coat of arms of Louis
Napoleon. |
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1811 |
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After the
annexation of the Kingdom of Holland by France in 1811 the imperial symbol
appeared in the East Indian Archipelago.
Seal of the Governor General of the Dutch Indies dd. 20 II - 18 IX
1811. French Imperial Eagle. L.: gouverneur generaal van indien. This seal
was only used for a very short time and prints are very rare [16]
From 1811
until 1813 the seal of the combined ministries showed the coat of arms of
Napoleon Bonaparte. |
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1811-1815 |
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In the
time of British rule in the Dutch possessions in the East Indies the Royal
British achievement should have been used. No examples of this achievement
from Dutch East Indian soil are known however. The coat
of arms of the quite famous lieutenant governor of the Dutch East
Indies from 1811-’16, Thomas Stamford Raffles, was:
“Or a double headed Eagle displayed Gules
charged on the breast with an Eastern Crown on the first, on a Chief Vert
pendent from a chain two oval Medallions in Pale the one bearing Arabic
characters and the other a dagger in fess the blade wavy the point towards
the dexter in relief Or, the said medallions and chain being a representation
of a personal decoration called the Order of the Golden Sword conferred upon
by him by the Chief or King of Atcheen in Sumatra as a mark of the high
regard of the said King and in testimony of the good understanding which had
been happily established between that Prince and the British Government; and
for a crest out of an Eastern Crown Or a Gryphon's Head Purpure gorged with a
collar gemel Gold.” |
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1815 -1940/’49 |
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After the defeat of Napoleon the Sovereign Principality of the
Netherlands prepared the restoration of Dutch rule in the Indies. This meant
also the restoration of the old symbols of sovereignty. By royal resolution
of 8 November 1815 nr. 39 the introduction of new currency was provided for.
The design for a 1 guilder-piece shows the Dutch Virgin on the obverse and
the crowned ancient arms of the States General and the Executive on the
reverse. From this guilder
only one minted coin is known.
Nederlandsch Oost-Indië, 1
gulden, 1815 Æ 31 mm. At the
date of the Royal Resolution the coat of arms of the Sovereign Principality
of 14 January 1814 was already substituted by Royal Resolution of 24 August
1815. The new coat of arms, amended in 1816, was used in the Colonies
throughout the nineteenth century and was changed again in 1907. [17]) A picture
of this coat of arms was in the Audience Hall above the seat of the Governor
General in Batavia. The seal
for the Dutch Indies showed this coat of arms with the legend DEPARTEMENT VAN KOLONIËN (until 1848) and MINISTERIE VAN KOLONIËN until 1945. |
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The Dutch
East Indies never had a coat of arms of its own. The coat of arms of Batavia
was often considered as such and it is said that Governor General Van Heutz
(1904-‘09) was a strong advocate of the idea. A proposal for a coat of arms
was made in 1933 by Dirk Rühl on the frontispeice of his “Nederlandsch
Indische Gemeentewapens”. His design shows a parted per pale of the
Netherlands and Batavia. However,
no specific coat of arms for the Dutch East Indies was ever adopted. |
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The commercial successor of the V.O.C.
was the Nederlandse Handelmaatschappij (NHM), founded in 1824 (after the Anglo-Dutch treaty). In 1964
this company merged with the Twentsche Bank and changed its name in
Nederlandsche Middenstands Bank. In 1990 the NMB merged with the
Amsterdam-Rotterdam Bank into the ABN AMRO Bank. This bank was split up in
2007. (Fortis, Bank
of Scotland en Banco Santander). |
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The emblems of the Nederlandsche
Handelsmaatschappij were deposed in 1866. They consisted of a larger emblem,
a medial emblem and a cypher. [18]
The larger emblem consists of disc charged
with a winged anchor between the date 1824, surrounded by the title nederlandsche handel maatschappy. As
a crest a three-masted sailing ship and as supporters two lions couchant.
Below the central emblem is the cypher NHM. The achievement is surrounded by
waves of the sea and decorated with several floral motives. |
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The medial emblem consists of the central
disc only, posed on a sun radiant of twenty points. The cypher of the company
consisted of the letters NHM only. |
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The 1964 ABN Bank had as its first emblem a combination of the emblem of the Twentsche Bank, a rearing horse, the socalled Twenthe Steed, and the anchor of the NHM. Later this was substitued for a calligraphic logo.
The ABN Bank merged in 1990 with the AMRO Bank to be prepared for the European market. ABN AMRO Holding N.V. took over the shares of both banks in August 1990 and on 22 September 1991 the new concern became active with the new name ABN AMRO Bank with its seat in Amsterdam. The arms of the ABN . AMRO are Vert, a
diamond parted per pale Vert and Or in base. This peculiar arms (because
difficult to blason), together with the title ABN • AMRO, is the logo of the
concern. It was designed in 1991 by Landor & Associates of San Francisco. |
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© Hubert de Vries 2009.02.27. Updated
2009.10.04; 2010-09-09; 2010-10-05; 2012-08-04; 2016-07-19