Bicolour | |
Use | State and war flag, state and naval ensign |
---|---|
Proportion | 3:5 |
Adopted | 26 February 1986 |
Design | A horizontal bicolour of blue and red, charged with the coat of arms in a small white box in the center. |
Designed by | Catherine Flon |
Use | Civil flag and ensign |
Proportion | 3:5 |
Adopted | 26 February 1986 |
Design | A horizontal bicolour of blue and red. |
Designed by | Catherine Flon |
The flag of Haiti (drapo Ayiti) is a bicolour featuring two horizontal bands coloured blue and red, emblazoned by a white rectangular panel bearing the coat of arms of Haiti. The coat of arms depicts a trophy of weapons atop a green hill and a royal palm symbolizing independence. The palm is topped by the Cap of Liberty. The motto L'Union fait la Force ('Unity makes strength') appears on a white ribbon below the arrangement.
The present design was first used by the Republic of Haiti under President Alexandre Pétion in 1806. [1] It was most recently readopted on 25 February 2012 under Title I, Chapter I, Article 3 of the current Constitution of Haiti:
L'emblême de la Nation Haïtienne est le Drapeau qui répond à la description suivante:
- Deux (2) bandes d'étoffe d'égales dimensions: l'une bleue en haut, l'autre rouge en bas, placées horizontalement;
- Au centre, sur un carré d'étoffe blanche, sont disposées les Armes de la République;
- Les Armes de la République sont : Le Palmiste surmonté du Bonnet de la Liberté et, ombrageant des ses Palmes, un Trophée d'Armes avec la Légende: L'Union fait la Force.
The English translation adopted by the Embassy of Haiti in Washington, D.C., reads: [2]
The emblem of the Haitian Nation shall be a flag with the following description:
- Two (2) equal-sized horizontal bands: a blue one on top and a red one underneath;
- The coat of arms of the Republic shall be placed in the center on a white square;
- The coat of arms of the Republic are: a Palmette [sic] [a] surmounted by the liberty cap, and under the palms a trophy of arms with the legend: In Union there is Strength.
Contrary to the constitutional mandate, the white field is rarely (if ever) rendered as a square. A rectangle with an 11:9 ratio has been adopted by the Haitian Ministry of Information and Coordination since 1987 or earlier. [3]
The flag of Haiti is one of seven national flags whose designs incorporate a depiction of the flag itself, [4] the others being the flags of Bolivia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Venezuela. The flag is one of four national flags of UN member states to feature a gun, the others being those of Mozambique, Guatemala, and Bolivia.
The civil flag and ensign omits the coat of arms. [5]
Blue | Red | White (arms) | Yellow (arms) | Green (arms) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
RGB | 0/32/159 | 210/16/52 | 255/255/255 | 241/181/23 | 1/106/22 |
Hexadecimal | #00209f | #d21034 | #ffffff | #f1b517 | #016a16 |
CMYK | 100/80/0/38 | 0/92/75/18 | 0/0/0/0 | 0/25/90/5 | 99/0/79/58 |
The first purely Haitian flag was adopted on 18 May 1803, on the last day of the Congress of Arcahaie, about 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Port-au-Prince. Haitian lore holds that the newly appointed revolutionary leader Jean-Jacques Dessalines created the flag by taking a French tricolor and ripping out the white center, which he discarded. He then asked Catherine Flon, his god-daughter, [6] to sew the remaining bands together. The white pale removed, the blue was taken to represent Haiti's Black African citizens and the red the gens de couleur . The story is widely known in Haiti: the anniversary of the date is celebrated as the Flag and Universities Day and images of Catherine Flon have appeared on Haitian currency and stamps. [7] [8]
Following his proclamation as Emperor Jacques I, Dessalines promulgated a new constitution on 20 May 1805. In it, the colors of the flag were altered to black and red. [9] This flag being subsequently adopted by Henri Christophe, the republicans under Alexandre Pétion returned to the colors blue and red, subsequently turning them horizontal and adding the newly adopted Haitian coat of arms.[ citation needed ]
During the period of the Haitian Empire of Faustin I, his coat of arms was used on the flag and for official functions, but it was subsequently abandoned upon his removal from office.[ citation needed ]
Between 1964 and 1986, the family dictatorships of François "Papa Doc" and Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier returned to Dessalines' black and red design. They included the national coat of arms, but altered the flags in its trophy to black as well.[ citation needed ]
The national flag of France is a tricolour featuring three vertical bands coloured blue, white, and red. The design was adopted after the French Revolution, whose revolutionaries were influenced by the horizontally striped red-white-blue flag of the Netherlands. While not the first tricolour, it became one of the most influential flags in history. The tricolour scheme was later adopted by many other nations in Europe and elsewhere, and, according to the Encyclopædia Britannica has historically stood "in symbolic opposition to the autocratic and clericalist royal standards of the past".
Henri Christophe was a key leader in the Haitian Revolution and the only monarch of the Kingdom of Haiti.
Jean-Jacques Dessalines was the first Haitian Emperor, leader of the Haitian Revolution, and the first ruler of an independent Haiti under the 1805 constitution. Initially regarded as governor-general, Dessalines was later named Emperor of Haiti as Jacques I (1804–1806) by generals of the Haitian Revolutionary army and ruled in that capacity until being assassinated in 1806. He spearheaded the resistance against French rule of Saint-Domingue, and eventually became the architect of the 1804 massacre of the remaining French residents of newly independent Haiti, including some supporters of the revolution. Alongside Toussaint Louverture, he has been referred to as one of the fathers of the nation of Haiti. Dessalines was directly responsible for the country, and, under his rule, Haiti became the first country in the Americas to permanently abolish slavery.
The national flag of Ivory Coast is a tricolour flag consisting of equal bands of orange, white, and green. The proportions of the flag are 2:3. It is the national emblem of the Republic of Ivory Coast as affirmed in Article 29 of the Constitution in 1960.
The national flag of Tunisia is a rectangular panel of red color with an aspect ratio of 2:3. In the center of the cloth in a white circle is placed a red crescent, surrounding a red five-pointed star on three sides. The Tunisian Bey Hussein II decided to create a flag for Tunisia, close in appearance to the modern one, after the Battle of Navarino on 20 October 1827; in 1831 he was officially approved. In that form, the flag existed during the French protectorate, and on 1 June 1959, it was proclaimed the state flag of the Republic of Tunisia. On 30 June 1999, the proportions and design of the flag were clarified by a special law. The general appearance of the flag remained virtually unchanged.
The national flag of the Republic of the Congo consists of a yellow diagonal band divided diagonally from the lower hoist-side corner, with a green upper triangle and red lower triangle. Adopted in 1959 to replace the French Tricolour, it was the flag of the Republic of the Congo until 1970, when the People's Republic of the Congo was established. The new regime changed the flag to a red field with the coat of arms of the People's Republic in the canton. This version was utilized until the regime collapsed in 1991. The new government promptly restored the original pre-1970 flag.
The flag of Niger has been the national flag of the Republic of the Niger since 1959, a year prior to its formal independence from French West Africa. It uses the national colors of orange, white and green, in equal horizontal bands, with an orange circle in the center. The flag forms one of the official national symbols of the Republic of the Niger, along with the coat of arms, the National Anthem, and the national motto: "Fraternité, Travail, Progrès".
The national flag of Togo consists of five horizontal stripes, alternating between green and yellow, with a red square bearing a five-pointed white star in the canton. It is one of many African flags that use the pan-African colours of green, yellow, and red. Togolese artist Paul Ahyi designed the flag in 1960, just before its adoption on 27 April of that year, coinciding with Togo's proclamation of independence. When Togo was an autonomous republic within the French Union, it flew a green flag with the French tricolour in the canton and two five-pointed yellow stars, one in the lower hoist and one in the upper fly.
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The coat of arms of Haiti is the national coat of arms of the Republic of Haiti. It was originally introduced in 1807, and it has appeared in its current form since 1986. Since this Haitian national symbol does not conform to the rules of heraldry for a traditional coat of arms, then it could be considered a national emblem instead.
The Kingdom of Haiti, or Kingdom of Hayti, was the state established by Henri Christophe on 28 March 1811 when he proclaimed himself King Henri I after having previously ruled as president of the State of Haiti, in the northern part of the country. This was Haiti's second attempt at monarchical rule, as Jean-Jacques Dessalines had previously ruled over the First Empire of Haiti as Emperor Jacques I from 1804 until his assassination in 1806.
The First Empire of Haiti, officially known as the Empire of Haiti, was an elective monarchy in North America. Haiti was controlled by France before declaring independence on 1 January 1804. The Governor-General of Haiti, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, created the empire on 22 September 1804. After being proclaimed emperor by the Generals of the Haitian Revolution Army, he held his coronation ceremony on 6 October and took the name Jacques I. The constitution of 20 May 1805 set out the way the empire was to be governed, with the country split into six military divisions. The general of each division corresponded directly with the emperor or the general in chief appointed by the emperor. The constitution also set out the succession to the throne, with the crown being elective and the reigning emperor having the power to appoint his successor. The constitution also banned white people, with the exception of naturalised Germans and Poles, from owning property inside the empire.
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The Haitian Declaration of Independence was proclaimed on 1 January 1804 in the port city of Gonaïves by Jean-Jacques Dessalines, marking the end of 13-year long Haitian Revolution. The declaration marked Haiti becoming the first independent nation of Latin America and only the second in the Americas after the United States.
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