haitian flag

Republic of haiti'due south electric current flag is a bicolor, horizontal flag of blueish and cherry, with a white rectangle in the middle featuring a glaze of arms. The coat of arms includes a hilltop, weaponry, and a palm tree. A white ribbon on the hillside states, "Unity is Strength".  But what is the history of the Haitian flag? Was it always this way, and are there multiple flags?

Haiti's Get-go Flag

This current flag that nosotros come across today has a long history. It was first brought revealed 1806 by President Alexandre Petion, but was most recently reintroduced to the country in 2012.

Haiti'due south very showtime flag as an independent nation is said to be created by revolutionary Jean-Jacques Dessalines. Information technology'southward said that he took a French flag, tore out the white bits and then sewed the cherry and blue together to make the start Haitian flag. According to local  history, blue represented Haiti's African residents while the red represented those of mixed European and African descent.

However, other accounts say that Dessalines chose the colors based on the Vodun religion and that he happened to be in a Vodun temple in Merote when he created the flag. Therefore, the red and bluish symbolize the Vodun god of state of war, Ogou. Additionally, it's said that the weapons and palm tree on the current flag are other signs of Vodun (though others argue that they are simply signs of freedom).

This event is said to have taken place on May 18, 1803, the appointment now celebrated as Haitian Flag Day. The adult female who was said to take sewn the 2 pieces of the French flag together — Catherine Flon, Dessalines' goddaughter — is now widely celebrated every bit well. Haitian Flag 24-hour interval was beginning celebrated amidst Haitian communities around the globe in the late 1990s, but was celebrated in Haiti in relative secrecy during the U.S. Occupation from 1915 to 1934.

Haiti's Second Flag – and Beyond

This first flag only stuck around ii years. In 1805, after Dessalines decided to go the emperor of Republic of haiti, he changed the flag's colors from blue and red to black and red. The yr after, Petion introduced the flag we encounter today.

Various rulers came on the scene over the course of Haitian history and fabricated their own changes to the flag. In the 1960s to the 1980s, the flag re-adopted its black and carmine colors.

In improver to the colors and coat of artillery on the flag changing throughout history, the motto on the flag changed several times likewise. Other mottos have included "Unity Makes Force", "Our Unity Will exist Our Strength", and "Freedom or Decease". The latter motto was adopted from the French Revolution and was likely on the original French flag created past Dessalines.

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flag history

The history of the Haitian flag