May 18 is Haitian Flag Day, an important holiday that commemorates the resilience of the Haitian people and their enduring fight for freedom. While January 1 is Haiti’s Independence Day, Flag Day celebrates the day when the first Haitian flag was made. The day is often celebrated with special meals, gatherings, music and dancing.
On May 18, 1803 revolutionary leader Jean-Jacques Dessalines tore the tri color French flag in pieces and asked his goddaughter, Catherine Flon, to restitch it with just the blue and red bars. Many historians believe the red and blue symbolized unity between native African and Mulatto classes of Haitians and that removal of the white stripe was a quite literal representation of the countries fight to gain independence and rid itself of French colonizers.
The flag has gone through many different variations, including a black and red version implemented by Dessalines just year after he initiated the creation of the blue and red. Symbols in the middle of the flag have also changed. The current flag was adopted in 1986. It includes the motto “L’union Fait La Force” which means “Strength in Unity” The coat of arms represents freedom and independence.
It was recently reported in the Miami Herald that “ Arcahaie, the city where Haiti’s first flag was sewn after leaders Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Alexandre Pétion decided to stop fighting alongside the French and join forces, is under gang control and inaccessible.” It is heartbreaking and frustrating that Haiti is once again under the thumb of oppressors who want only to extort and destroy. Let us pray that Haitians can find strength in unity to overthrow the gangs, and that Americans will find ways to support empower rather than distract and complicate.
For more information about the Haitian Flag, check out these sources:
https://www.considerhaiti.org/news/haitian-flag-day
https://www.haitinewstoday.com/haitian-flag/
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article305276761.html
