IPNEWS: The City Solicitor of Barclayville City in Grand Kru County, Attorney Thomas Kun says the security apparatus, the student community, and other residents of the county are gearing up and preparing for the celebration of August 24, 2022, National Flag Day celebration.
Atty. Kun says the National Flag Day program which is being scheduled to be held in Barclayville city on Wednesday, August 24, 2022, is being used to educate students in Grand Kru about patriotism and allegiance to one’s country.
He noted the National Flag Day celebration encompasses both outdoor and indoor programs, while a keynote speaker will speak to the students and residents of the county, as well as students performing and exhibiting their talents on stage in various arts.
According to Atty. Kun, all of the security officers, businesses, students, and community dwellers in the county have been informed of the pending celebration of National Flag Day.
Mr. Kun pointed out that, every stakeholder in the county have been working endlessly to make sure that the day is observed, in remembrance past leaders of the country who contributed to the building and growth of Liberia.
On National Flag Day in Liberia, celebrated annually on August 24, we mark the adoption of the Liberian flag. Liberians around the world celebrate this day since it marks the anniversary of the adoption of their flag. This was a watershed moment in Liberia’s history, coming just months after the country declared independence from the United States. Although the Liberian flag is based on the American flag, it has its own meaning and symbolism. Every year, the occasion is held to honor people’s unwavering devotion to their country’s flag”.
Meanwhile, the County Education officer in Grand Kru County, Nuwantie Kamaie, has called on schools in the county to turn out and celebrate the National Flag Day celebration on Wednesday, August 24, 2022.
The Flag of Liberia
The flag of Liberia or the Liberian flag, sometimes called the Lone Star, bears a close resemblance to the flag of the United States, representing Liberia’s founding by former black slaves from the United States and the Caribbean.
History of the Flag of Liberia
History tells that the flag of Liberia was designed and hand-stitched by a committee of seven women. The chair of the committee was Susannah Elizabeth Lewis. The other members of the committee were Matilda Newport, Rachel Johnson, Mary Hunter, Mrs. J. B. Russwurm, Colonette Teage Ellis, and Sara Draper.
All of the women were born in the United States, and many of them were wives of prominent men in Liberia. Lewis was the daughter of former vice colonial agent Colston Waring, the sister of the 1st First Lady of the Republic, Jane Roberts, and the wife of John N. Lewis, one of the signers of the Liberian Declaration of Independence.
The flag they designed was adopted on 24 August 1847, about a month after Liberia had declared independence on 26 July 1847. The day the flag was adopted, the nation held a celebration in Monrovia. There, the flag was unfurled to the public for the first time, and Susannah Lewis gave a patriotic speech. The ceremony also featured speeches by a number of notable Liberian politicians and religious leaders, as well as entertainment in the form of band music.
In the 1850s and 1860s, the Eusibia N. Roye became the first Liberian owned ship to display the flag in New York City and Liverpool ports. The vessel was owned by Edward James Roye. In 1860, the Liberian flag was featured on the first known stamp to be issued by the Liberian government. On 24 October 1915, President Daniel Edward Howard signed into law an act which proclaimed 24 August as Flag Day, a national holiday.
On 22 July 1974, the Legislature of Liberia passed an act giving authorization to the President to establish a commission to consider possible changes to a number of national symbols, including the flag and national anthem. The commission was headed by McKinley Alfred Deshield Sr. The Commission sought to reexamine the symbols and remove divisive aspects of them.
President William Tolbert appointed 51 members to the Commission on National Unity. The commission was also called the Deshields Commission, after the man who headed it. The commission submitted its report on 24 January 1978. The report ultimately recommended no changes to the flag.
The flag is seen on many ships around the world as Liberia offers registration under its flag. Shipping companies do this to avoid taxes and restrictions that other countries enforce. As the second most popular flag of convenience (after the flag of Panama), it is estimated that 1,700 foreign-owned ships fly the Liberian flag. This brings in much of the country’s revenue.
Symbolism
The eleven stripes symbolize the signatories of the Liberian Declaration of Independence and the red and white symbolize courage and moral excellence. The white star represents the first independent republic in Africa, above the blue square representing the African continent.
The Liberian flag is modeled after and resembles the United States flag because Liberia was founded, established, and controlled by free people of color and formerly enslaved black people from the United States and the Caribbean with the help and support of both the United States government and the American Colonization Society (ACS), a private organization dedicated to the removal of free people of color from across North America.
Sometime after the African Americans began arriving in Liberia in 1822, they came to be identified as “Americo-Liberians” in an effort to separate them from native groups and enslaved Africans rescued from illegal slaving ports and ships by the American navy. Liberia Flag’s history Source: Wikipedia. Writes Fedrick Kumeh in Barclayville
