Shout out to subscriber, long-time reader of my scribblings, and fellow blogger The Quiet Man for the tip on this one. I wanted to try and sneak this in last month, but I went on a mild vacation instead. So: yes, Juneteenth was last month. I apologize for the lack of timeliness on this post, but we’re still less than a month removed from the day itself, so I’m going to say we’re in the grace period for the post, as it were.
True story: I did not know Juneteenth had a flag. This naturally begs a question: do any other holidays/commemorations have a flag? It’s possible, but a quick (and for sure non-comprehensive) search of the internet didn’t seem to reveal any. So in that sense, this is a unique flag. It’s a flag for a holiday and a moment in history.
Since it became an official Federal Holiday in 2021, the holiday has been in the news quite a bit, but on the off chance anyone reading this isn’t quite clear on what it’s all about, here’s the official wiki-page description:
Juneteenth marks the anniversary of the announcement of General Order No. 3 by Union army general Gordon Granger on June 19th, 1865 proclaiming freedom for enslaved people in Texas. Originating in Galveston, the holiday has been observed annually on June 19 in various parts of the United States, often broadly celebrating African-American culture.
It’s been out there for decades now- but I would say that if there’s one state where Juneteenth was a well-established holiday before it broke seriously into the mainstream culture it would probably be Texas, where celebrations/observances of the date were recorded as far back as 1866.
Let’s unpack the flag, shall we?
Initially designed in 1997 and revised in 2000 before being officially adopted in 2000 and revised again (to add the date) in 2007. The original designer was an activist known as Boston Ben (Ben Haith)1. The colors red, white, and blue were taken from the American flag. The arc dividing the red and the blue stands for the new horizon of opportunity for black people. The wiki page also adds this:
According to the president of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation Steve Williams, the star is a ‘Bursting star of freedom.’ Williams also states that the arch representing the horizon shows blue above and the red color below is symbolic of the ground soaked with blood; the blood which was shed by the African-American slaves for the United States. The red, white, and blue colors were meant to convey the message that all enslaved people and their descendants are American.
The five-pointed star refers both to Texas and the freedom of African-Americans in all 50 states. Surrounding it is a nova/starburst/new star that stands for a new beginning for all. The date (obviously) represents the day of the first ‘Juneteenth’ when the news of emancipation was announced in Galveston.
The wiki page also proclaims that the flag is the most recognizable symbol of Juneteenth. While my own initial reaction to that statement was a “huh?” a little more reading reveals that this flag has been flying for Juneteenth for 20 years now since it was first flown in 2000 at Boston’s Roxbury Heritage State Park.
Stepping back, I think it’s interesting to examine my own personal reaction to this holiday and its flag. I hate the use of the phrase ‘checking my privilege’ but in this case and with this flag I think it was important for me to check myself now and again. This holiday has been around for over a century. People have been celebrating it for generations. It’s tempting to say things like ‘now that it’s a federal holiday, it’s going to be more mainstream’ but that implies that mainstream culture means that the morass of white people in this country actually knows what it is and that’s not an accurate thing to say either. (Again, because this holiday has been around for a long-ass time. Just because YOU, the random white person are just hearing about it now doesn’t mean it hasn’t existed for DECADES now.)
I know Wal-Mart got in some trouble for tacky commercialization of the holiday this year and I think attempts to monetize it or commercialize it are going to be frowned upon for the immediate future. But giving this holiday the official, Federal recognition it has long deserved is a good step forward. Recognizing the moment in our history is an unabashedly good thing. It should have been done a long-ass time ago, but it’s here now to stay.
So next year, when you see this flag flying- you’ll know what it means!
The flag’s wiki page also gives credit to Lisa Jeanne Graf— but apparently, she states on her website that she was a ‘contributor’ to the design, but the page credits her for ‘revising’ the design. This struck me as a little bit of a contradiction, but her name is out there as doing something with the flag’s design, so she deserves a shout-out.