Constitutional Court Decision 27/PUU-XXIV/2026 is a 2026 ruling of the Constitutional Court of Indonesia on a petition for material review of two offences concerning the state emblem (lambang negara, the Garuda Pancasila) in Pasal 237 of Undang-Undang 1/2023 on the Criminal Code (Kitab Undang-Undang Hukum Pidana, KUHP).^[1] The petition was brought by seven individual citizens, recorded in the decision as students.^[2] It is one of the constitutional review cases on criminal law in Indonesia decided on 12 August 2026.

The Court applied its 2013 Decision 4/PUU-X/2012 on the Flag, Language, State Emblem and National Anthem Law to both provisions. It upheld Pasal 237 huruf b, which punishes making a symbol for a person, party, association, organisation or company that is the same as or resembles the state emblem. It struck down Pasal 237 huruf c, which punished using the emblem for purposes other than those regulated by statute, holding that it restated in substance a prohibition the Court had already declared unconstitutional.^[3][4][5] On the same day the Court declared a second petition against Pasal 237 huruf c, in Decision 73/PUU-XXIV/2026, inadmissible for want of an object.^[6]

¶ Provisions under review

Pasal 237 of the Criminal Code punishes with a fine of up to category II anyone who (a) uses a state emblem that is damaged or does not conform to its prescribed form, colours and proportions; (b) makes a symbol for an individual, political party, association, organisation or company that is the same as or resembles the state emblem; or (c) uses the state emblem for purposes other than those regulated by statute.^[3:1] In the Code's 2023 text, a category II fine is capped at ten million rupiah.^[7]

The Court found that the three limbs were adopted from Pasal 57 huruf b, c and d of Undang-Undang 24/2009 on the national flag, language, state emblem and national anthem. In Decision 4/PUU-X/2012, pronounced on 15 January 2013, the Court had upheld Pasal 57 huruf c of that law but declared Pasal 57 huruf d, the prohibition on using the emblem for purposes other than those regulated by the law, and the criminal penalty for it in Pasal 69 huruf c, unconstitutional and without binding force.^[3:2][4:1]

¶ Petition

The petition, dated 12 January 2026, was registered on 14 January 2026 and revised on 9 February 2026.^[8] Relying on the rights to advance oneself collectively, to be free from discriminatory treatment, and to maintain and develop cultural values, in Pasal 28C(2), 28I(2) and 32(1) of the 1945 Constitution, the petitioners argued that the two provisions were broad and subjective and would chill the use of the emblem in national expression, public protest, education, culture, art and small creative businesses; that the restriction was disproportionate; that the provisions disregarded Decision 4/PUU-X/2012; and that, applied strictly, they could reach state institutions and citizens whose use of emblem attributes no statute expressly governed.^[9] The relief asked the Court to strike down both limbs or, in the alternative, to declare them conditionally unconstitutional unless read to exclude good-faith use in national expression, public opinion, academic, educational, cultural, artistic and social advocacy activity not aimed at degrading the emblem.^[10]

The Court heard the House of Representatives on 13 April 2026 and the President on 9 March 2026, and took the evidence in joint plenary hearings with five other petitions on the Criminal Code, including Decision 275/PUU-XXIII/2025 and Decision 26/PUU-XXIV/2026.^[11][12]

¶ Ruling

¶ Admissibility

Pasal 237 huruf c had been challenged before, in Decision 36/PUU-XXI/2023 of 25 May 2023, which declared that petition inadmissible without reaching the merits. The Court held that the present petition relied on further constitutional provisions, Pasal 28C(2) and 28I(2), and on different grounds, and so was not barred by Pasal 60 of the Constitutional Court Law or Pasal 72 of Peraturan Mahkamah Konstitusi 7/2025.^[13]

¶ Pasal 237 huruf b

Quoting Decision 4/PUU-X/2012, the Court recalled its holding that the ban on symbols resembling the state emblem does not restrict citizens' use of the emblem itself, but prevents confusion as to whether the state or another party is acting, a confusion that would harm all citizens because the emblem is their common property. Finding the arguments in substance the same as those rejected in 2013, and no strong and fundamental reason to depart from that position, it applied the earlier reasoning mutatis mutandis and rejected the challenge.^[3:3]

¶ Pasal 237 huruf c

The Court again quoted Decision 4/PUU-X/2012. There it had held that Undang-Undang 24/2009 specified only mandatory uses of the emblem (Pasal 51) and permitted uses (Pasal 52), while the emblem was in common use on headwear, monuments, clothing and school uniforms, none of which fell in either list; that a criminal prohibition must be clear, written and strict (lex certa, lex scripta, lex stricta); and that, under Pasal 32(1) of the Constitution, citizens are entitled to practise the values of Pancasila, including by using the emblem, so that restricting its use curbs their expression of identity and may weaken national feeling.^[4:2]

The Court held that Pasal 237 huruf c reused the substance of the struck-down Pasal 57 huruf d, differing only in omitting the word ini ("this [law]"), and had the same essence. With no strong reason to depart from the 2013 decision, it applied that reasoning mutatis mutandis, found the argument well founded, and held the provision contrary to the Constitution.^[4:3][14]

The operative order granted the petition in part, declared Pasal 237 huruf c contrary to the 1945 Constitution and without binding legal force, ordered publication in the State Gazette, and rejected the remainder. The decision was reached in deliberation on 9 July 2026 by nine justices, with Suhartoyo presiding, and pronounced on 12 August 2026; it records no dissenting opinion.^[5:1]

CRPG's regulatory tracker published an account of the decision on 23 August 2026.^[15]

¶ See also

• Constitutional Court Decision 280/PUU-XXIII/2025
• Constitutional Court Decision 202/PUU-XXIV/2026

¶ External links

• Decision (Mahkamah Konstitusi)
• Case record (Mahkamah Konstitusi)
• CRPG: Constitutional Review of the Criminal Code State Emblem Offence: MK 27/PUU-XXIV/2026 (crpg.id, 23 August 2026)

¶ References