
In 1927, Dutch heraldist T. van der Laars designed a series of coats of arms for municipalities across the Dutch East Indies. Styled in classic European heraldry, these crests were more than city emblems — they were graphic tools of colonial order, embedding authority into the everyday.
This series revisits his designs not to glorify them, but to reflect on how visual symbols helped shape a sense of hierarchy, allegiance, and imperial identity — one carefully drawn line at a time.
In the 1920s, Dutch heraldist T. van der Laars designed coats of arms for cities in the Dutch East Indies — embedding civic identity into colonial control.
With Latin mottos, lions, and shields, his work followed European heraldic traditions to represent power, order, and allegiance.
These crests appeared on calendars, buildings, and documents making colonial symbolism part of daily life across the Indies.
Long after independence, traces of these designs linger, reminders of a visual system built to last longer than the regime itself.