Puteri Indonesia (Javanese: (Hanacaraka) ꦦꦸꦠꦺꦫꦶ​ꦆꦤ꧀ꦢꦺꦴꦤꦺꦱ; lit. 'Princess of Indonesia') is a national beauty pageant in Indonesia.^[6] Puteri Indonesia is traditionally held in March, alongside the celebration of International Women's Day.^[7][8][9] The pageant annually sends its winner to represent the country at Miss International, one of the Big Four international beauty pageants. The pageant also sends representatives for Miss Supranational, Miss Charm, and Miss Cosmo pageants.

Aside from crowning the winner, Puteri Indonesia Organization also grants titles to the runner-ups, which includes Puteri Indonesia Lingkungan, Puteri Indonesia Pariwisata, and Puteri Indonesia Pendidikan & Kebudayaan (or Perdamaian) titles.^[3]

The current Puteri Indonesia is Harashta Haifa Zahra of West Java who was crowned on 8 March 2024 at the Jakarta Convention Center, Jakarta.

The pageant is run by the Puteri Indonesia Organization, based in Jakarta, and owned by Puteri Indonesia Charities, Inc., with the president-owners being the Royal Highest Family of Surakarta Sunanate, Princess Mooryati Soedibyo^[1][2] and Princess Putri Kuswisnuwardhani.^[3][10]

The pageant was established in 1992 and is considered the oldest national beauty pageant in Indonesia, with Indira Paramarini Sudiro being the first ever Puteri Indonesia who was crowned Puteri Indonesia 1992 and won Miss ASEAN 1992 title.^[11] Puteri Indonesia 1996, Alya Rohali, had the longest reign in the pageant history, from 1996 to 1999.^[12]

The pageant was founded to choose a representative to compete in Miss Universe, however from 1997 until 2004, the pageant's winners were not allowed to compete at the Miss Universe pageant by the decision of former First Lady, Mrs. Tien Suharto.^[why?][13] Puteri Indonesia pageant winners were again sent to the Miss Universe, Miss International, and Miss Supranational since 2005 after receiving support from Megawati Soekarnoputri, the first female President of Indonesia. The pageant has been held consecutively every year, with the winner and the runner-ups sent to participate in international beauty pageants, including Artika Sari Devi Kusmayadi at Miss Universe 2005 in Thailand, followed by Lindi Cistia Prabha at Miss World 2005 in China, Rahma Landy Sjahruddin at Miss International 2007 in Japan, Alessandra Khadijah Usman at Miss Asia Pacific World 2011 in Chile, Cokorda Istri Krisnanda Widani at Miss Supranational 2013 in Belarus, Novia Indriani Mamuaja at Miss Grand International 2013 in Thailand, and Lulu Zaharani Krisna Widodo who will compete at Miss Charm 2024.^[14]

The Puteri Indonesia pageant is traditionally held on March (alongside International Women's Day) in Jakarta.^[15][16] Candidate selection starts at provincial level, with those chosen from each province set to compete in the national level pageant. Puteri Indonesia Organization is supported by the president and the cabinet. In 2019, Joko Widodo announced Puteri Indonesia as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage of Indonesia,^[17] which carries the values of Indonesian culture and society togetherness, to celebrate the role of women in the creative industry, environment, tourism, education and social awareness.^[18]

Final coronation nights of the pageant were originally broadcast on Indosiar (except for 2007), however, Puteri Indonesia 2019 and the consecutive editions are broadcast on SCTV, making the television networks owned by Surya Citra Media (SCM) as the official broadcasters of Puteri Indonesia.^[19]

In February 2023, Puteri Indonesia Organization lost its Miss Universe license and received its Miss Charm license, which allows the organization to send the pageant's winner to Miss International instead of Miss Universe.^[20][21]

The following are the Puteri Indonesia titleholders throughout the years, their performance in the international beauty pageants

• One – Miss International winner: Kevin Lilliana Junaedy (2017)^[22][23][24]
• One – Miss Grand International winner: Ariska Putri Pertiwi [id] (2016)^[25]

These are the awards most frequently presented at Puteri Indonesia each year:

Note that the year designates the time Puteri Indonesia has acquired that particular pageant franchise.

• Puteri Indonesia 2023
  Farhana Nariswari Wisandana, of West Java
• Puteri Indonesia 2022
  Laksmi Shari De-Neefe Suardana, of Bali
• Puteri Indonesia 2020
  Raden Roro Ayu Maulida Putri, of East Java
• Puteri Indonesia 2019
  Frederika Alexis Cull,
  of Jakarta SCR
• Puteri Indonesia 2018
  Sonia Fergina Citra,
  of Bangka Belitung
• Puteri Indonesia 2017
  Bunga Jelitha Ibrani,
  of Jakarta SCR

Color key

Before Puteri Indonesia under PT Mustika Ratu Tbk., the Indonesia's representations were crowned by national pageants called Ratu Indonesia, Miss Indonesia, and Miss Jawa. Andy Nurhayati who owned Andi Beauty Institute Jakarta was the key person who took the franchise for Miss Universe, Miss World, Miss International, Miss Asia Pacific, etc. in Indonesia. Began 1980s, the selection held in closed selection by her, since there was banning system from the government about beauty pageants.

• Miss Jawa (Java): This beauty contest also took over the Miss International license at the start of Miss International's debut from Oscar J. Meinhardt in the United States.
• Miss Indonesia: The first edition was held in 1969 where since 1970 there was no Miss Indonesia program, until 2005 Mrs. Liliana Tanoesoedibjo held the Miss Indonesia election for the first time in the modern era.
• Ratu Indonesia: This beauty event was first held in 1971 and transformed into Puteri Indonesia in the 4th year of implementation, 1975. It had a hiatus for 1 year in 1974 and was officially closed in 1978. During the program there were 3 main titles at Puteri Indonesia in that time: Puteri Indonesia as the Main Winner, Puteri Duta Indonesia as the 1st Runner-up, and Puteri Pariwisata Indonesia as the 2nd Runner-up. In 1992, Mrs. Mooryati Soedibyo began developing the Puteri Indonesia program and officially holds the license for Miss Universe and several other licenses.
• Closed Selection: Andy Nurhayati, as the owner of the Miss Universe license and various world beauty pageants, began trying to carry out a closed selection program to send representatives to several beauty pageants such as Miss Universe. This is done through casting and around 5 winners are selected between 1978 and 1983.

• Miss International
• Miss Supranational
• Miss Charm
• Miss International Indonesia
• Puteri Indonesia Lingkungan
• Puteri Indonesia Pariwisata
• Miss Indonesia
• Miss Earth Indonesia
• Miss Mega Bintang Indonesia
• Miss Universe Indonesia
• Indonesia at major beauty pageants