JAKARTA: Nine years after a tsunami devastated the province of Aceh and drove its separatist chieftains to the negotiating table with Indonesia, rebel symbolism is back in vogue in the country's westernmost province.

A decision in March by Aceh's year-old regional government to gazette the flag of the former separatist movement, GAM, as the official flag of the province has stirred up old animosities and posed questions about the future.

The central government has given Aceh's leaders until Tuesday to reverse the flag decision under threat of having it overturned. But Jakarta is likely to realise that heavy handed action could reopen the wounds stitched closed across a negotiating table in Helsinki in 2005.

Back then, Aceh was given special privileges — including its choice of flag — which are not afforded to other regions of Indonesia. In return, a 30-year armed separatist struggle ended.

But Aceh's move now to adopt the crescent-and-star flag is literally a red rag to the national bull.