Introduction The struggle for nationalism was one of the significant events during the colonial period in Indonesia. It was facilitated by the unity of Indonesian tribes. The natives of Indonesia achieved unity through the adoption of a common language which facilitated communication. Therefore, the adoption of a common language was one of the significant factors that contributed to the development of nationalism in Indonesia. Today, Indonesian is the formal slang in Indonesia. It is used as the language of instruction in most learning institutions and in the national media (Simpson 2007, pp. 45-46). Furthermore, it is one of the most popular languages ​​globally. Indonesian evolved during the colonial period. It was called Malay before independence. Aside from Indonesian, natives commonly speak Javanese and Madurese. This article discusses the emergence of Indonesian during the colonial period and its development after independence. The emergence of Indonesian originated during the colonial period. In the early 20th century, many dialects existed in Indonesia because indigenous communities had their own languages. The European invasion of Indonesia led to the emergence of multiple languages. It was from these numerous dialects that Indonesian gradually developed. During the colonial period, the Dutch dominated the natives in all spheres of life (Woodward 2010, pp. 121-122). For example, Dutch colonialists disrupted the social, economic, and political organization of the natives. Therefore, colonialism led to immense suffering for the natives. This led to the struggle for independence. During the colonial period, “Dutch, Javanese, French and Malay languages ​​became popular in various parts of Asia” (Anwar 2001, pp. 57-5...... half of the document ...... and adopted the use of Malay and made it the second official language in the colony. In the twentieth century, Malay gained importance in many educational institutions. It was also adopted by many local media organizations Indonesians who obtained formal education during the colonial period , only a few natives from wealthy families had the chance to study in Dutch schools. At the beginning of the 20th century, valued associations with independence ambitions began to form. In 1911, the Sarekat Muslim Organization made Malay its formal language. the first Indonesian Youth Congress was held and the future leaders of Indonesia discussed the issue of the national language” (Paauw 2009, p. 4).