BAHF | |
Use | Ethnic Flag |
---|---|
Proportion | 2:3 or 3:5 |
Adopted | March 5, 1967 ; 57 years ago |
Design | One diagonal black stripe centered between two red stripes. Superimposed on the black stripe is a blunted sword surrounded by a golden wreath of fig leaves. |
Designed by | Melvin Charles, Gleason T. Jackson |
BAHF Variant | |
Use | Ethnic Flag |
---|---|
Proportion | 2:3 or 3:5 |
Adopted | Approximately in the 2020s |
Design | Takes the original version of the flag and cartoonifies the sword and fig wreath, with the gold and red colors both being brighter than the original design. |
The Black American Heritage Flag is an ethnic flag that represents the culture and history of Afro American people. Each color and symbol on the flag has a significant meaning that was developed to instill pride in Black Americans, and provide them with a symbol of hope for the future in the midst of their struggle for Civil Rights.
Color scheme
|
---|
Melvin Charles described the story behind the design of the Black American Heritage Flag and the historic event when it was raised at City Hall.
"We came up with this idea to make a flag that had diagonal stripes of red and black," he explained, "and to have a fig wreath circled in the center of it, and a blunted sword. Of course, we had to recognize that each item, we had to have some sort of explanation."
The gold-colored blunted sword represent "the feeling of having pride and also knowing, when you have a blunted sword, when you blunt it you learn to curdling the earth," he continued, "the wreath, which we also had in the color gold" symbolized peace, prosperity, and everlasting life. Red was chosen to represent the "rich blood we shed for freedom, justice, and human dignity, and the color black was for the pride in our pigmentation." [1]
There is also a popular alternative variation of the Black American Heritage Flag that possesses the same ideas and symbolisms as the original design of the Heritage Flag that Melvin Charles and Gleason Jackson set in place. The difference between the original version of the flag and the newer design is that it's more cartoonish and has a brighter set of colors. It is unclear from where the unauthorized Heritage flag design revision originated. However, it has somehow cemented itself as a viable alternative for the original, and authorized, Heritage Flag design. On September 12, 2023, countering the newer design of the Heritage Flag, Melvin Charles's daughter has showed discontent with the new design on an Instagram post captioned:
"Please be mindful when you purchase Black American Heritage Flag products. In this 'grab and go' culture, many have not honored the original design."
Followed by images of the original design of the Heritage Flag titled: "original design!!!" and the new design of the flag titled: "not the original". [2]
The flag was created in 1967 by Melvin Charles and Gleason T. Jackson. The idea to create the flag came about during the civil rights era [3] when Charles realized that every other group of people had a flag at parades except Black Americans. He saw how connected they were to their national flags, but didn't feel the same connection towards the American flag due to the negative historical and political implication that the American flag held in the minds of the Black American people. [4] Creating a national flag was still just an idea in his mind until he pitched the idea to Gleason T. Jackson. He designed the flag alongside Jackson and they would later travel the country to visit various churches, schools, and public events to promote the flag. The inspiration for the flag came from Melvin Charles and Gleason Jackson bouncing ideas off of each other and going to the library for extra inspiration for the flags design and symbolism. [5] The flag is said to have received some opposition from some people, but was eventually accepted and supported by the mayor, and was officially hoisted onto a flag pole at the city hall in Newark, New Jersey, on March 5, 1967. [6] [4] In December 1967 Charles and Jackson received acknowledgement of The Black American Heritage Flag from President Lyndon B. Johnson. The letter was signed by the Personal Secretary to the President of the United States. [3] The Black church didn't accept the Black American heritage flag as much, but most of Charles and Gleason's success came from contacting municipalities to showcase and spread the knowledge of the existence of the Heritage flag. [7]
Amidst the 2020 George Floyd Protests, the Black American community showcased pride for their race and culture throughout the streets of various cities in the United States. They also were extremely vocal about it on social media platforms such as Twitter/X and TikTok. The heavy usage and discussion of the Black American Heritage flag during that time eventually led to increased recognition of the flag and its colors all over the country.[ citation needed ] In August 2021, graphic designer Michael Randall (known as Mike Tré) recreated a more accurate and high-quality representation of the original flag as designed by Charles and Jackson. [8] In September 2021, a popular half Black-American rapper named Saweetie attended the Met Gala and wore a custom Christian Cowan gown that showcased the colors of the Black American Heritage Flag alongside the colors of the Filipino flag to represent both parts of her multi-ethnic background. [9] [10] The flag was also seen being worn at the United States of America Ms.2022 pageant by Keerah Yeowang, who won the title. [11] As of today, the flag can be found at parades, protests, and cultural heritage events within the Black American community. Some Black Americans recognize it as a symbol of their identity and culture.
The Black American Heritage flag has another variation that is also widely popular as well; it includes a cartoonified version of the fig reef and sword, with slight color alteration from the original design. There is some controversy when it comes to this cartoonified version of the flag, but many still use this version of the flag.
Pantone LLC is an American limited liability company headquartered in Carlstadt, New Jersey, and best known for its Pantone Matching System (PMS), a proprietary color order system used in a variety of industries, notably graphic design, fashion design, product design, printing, and manufacturing and supporting the management of color from design to production, in physical and digital formats, among coated and uncoated materials, cotton, polyester, nylon and plastics.
A rainbow flag is a multicolored flag consisting of the colors of the rainbow. The designs differ, but many of the colors are based on the seven spectral colors of the visible light spectrum.
The pan-African flag is an ethnic flag representing pan-Africanism, the African diaspora, and/or black nationalism. A tri-color flag, it consists of three equal horizontal bands of red, black, and green.
The national flag of Algeria consists of two equal vertical bars, green and white, charged in the center with a red star and crescent, a symbol of Islam as the nation's prominent faith. The flag was adopted on 3 July 1962. A similar version was used by the Algerian government in exile from 1958 to 1962. The Western blazon is per pale vert and argent; a crescent and star gules.
The bisexual flag, also called the bisexual pride flag, is a pride flag representing bisexuality, bisexual individuals and the bisexual community. According to Michael Page, the activist who created the flag based on a color palette designed by Liz Nania, the pink stripe represents attraction to the same sex, while the blue stripe represents attraction to the opposite sex. The purple stripe, the resulting "overlap" of the blue and pink stripes, represents attraction to both sexes.
The leather pride flag is a symbol of leather subculture as well as kink and fetish subcultures more broadly, including BDSM. The flag was designed by Tony DeBlase in 1989.
The flag of the State of Palestine is a tricolour of three equal horizontal stripes—black, white, and green from top to bottom—overlaid by a red triangle issuing from the hoist. It displays the pan-Arab colours, which were first combined in the current style during the 1916 Arab Revolt, and represents the Palestinian people and the State of Palestine.
A pride flag is any flag that represents a segment or part of the LGBTQ community. Pride in this case refers to the notion of LGBTQ pride. The terms LGBTQ flag and queer flag are often used interchangeably.
Over the course of its history, the LGBTQ community has adopted certain symbols for self-identification to demonstrate unity, pride, shared values, and allegiance to one another. These symbols communicate ideas, concepts, and identity both within their communities and to mainstream culture. The two symbols most recognized internationally are the pink triangle and the rainbow flag.
Black is beautiful is a cultural movement that was started in the United States in the 1960s by African Americans. It later spread beyond the United States, most prominently in the writings of the Black Consciousness Movement of Steve Biko in South Africa. Black is beautiful got its roots from the Négritude movement of the 1930s. Negritude argued for the importance of a Pan-African racial identity among people of African descent worldwide.
Brown is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a light to moderate brown complexion.
The rainbow flag or pride flag is a symbol of LGBTQ pride and LGBTQ social movements. The colors reflect the diversity of the LGBTQ community and the spectrum of human sexuality and gender. Using a rainbow flag as a symbol of LGBTQ pride began in San Francisco, California, but eventually became common at LGBTQ rights events worldwide.
The International Bear Brotherhood Flag, also known as the bear flag, is a pride flag designed to represent the bear subculture within the LGBTQIA+ community. The colors of the flag—dark brown, orange/rust, golden yellow, tan, white, gray, and black—symbolize species of animal bears throughout the world. Though not necessarily referring to human skin color or hair color, the flag was designed with inclusion in mind. The bear culture celebrates secondary sex characteristics such as growth of body hair and facial hair, traits associated with bears.
Gilbert Baker was an American artist, designer, activist, and vexillographer, best known as the creator of the rainbow flag.
The current flag of Jacksonville, Florida was adopted by the Jacksonville City Council on February 24, 1976. It was designed by Don Bozeman, winner of a design contest prior to the 1975 Bold CityFest, the annual celebration of the city/county government consolidation. The city's previous flag, designed by Edmund Jackson and adopted in 1914, was considered outdated.
Diamonté Quiava Valentin Harper, known professionally as Saweetie, is an American rapper. Her 2017 debut single, "Icy Grl", received double platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and led her to sign with Warner Records in a joint venture with her then-manager, Max Gousse's record label, Artistry Worldwide.
Reclaim Pride Coalition is a coalition of LGBT groups and individuals that initially gathered in New York City in 2019 to create the Queer Liberation March in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall riots and to protest the commercialization of LGBT Pride events. The following year, in solidarity with Black Lives Matter, the coalition organized the Queer Liberation March for Black Lives & Against Police Brutality.
Various lesbian flags have been used to symbolise the lesbian community. Since 1999, many designs have been proposed and used. Although personal preferences exist, as well as various controversies, no design has been widely accepted by the community as the lesbian flag.
Disability Pride Month occurs worldwide, usually in July. Disability Pride has evolved from a day of celebration to a month-long event.
Various pride flags have been used to symbolize gay men. Rainbow flags have been used since 1978 to represent both gay men and, subsequently, the LGBT community as a whole. Since the 2010s, various designs have been proposed to specifically represent the gay male community.