On 9 April 1827, a resolution was made establishing the first flag of Liberia, during its time as a colony, which identified the flag the same as the United States, except with a white cross in the place of the canton’s stars.[6] In preparation for independence, the flag of Liberia was redesigned and hand-stitched by a committee of seven women.[1] GovernorJoseph Jenkins Roberts, in a letter dated 10 July 1847, asked Susannah Elizabeth Lewis to head the committee.[7] The other members of the committee were Matilda Newport, Rachel Johnson, Mary Hunter, Mrs. Sarah McGill Russwurm (wife ofJ. 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.[1][8] Lewis was the daughter of former vice colonial agent Colston Waring, the sister of the first First Lady of the Republic,Jane Roberts, and wife of John N. Lewis, one of the signers of theLiberian Declaration of Independence.[9][10][11] The flag they designed was adopted on 24 August 1847, about a month after Liberia had declared independence on 26 July 1847.[1] The day the flag was adopted, the nation held a celebration inMonrovia. 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.[12]
In the 1850s and 1860s, theEusibia N. Roye became the first Liberian-owned ship to display the flag inNew York City andLiverpool ports. The vessel was owned byEdward James Roye.[13] In 1860, the Liberian flag was featured on the first known stamp to be issued by the Liberian government.[14] On 24 October 1915, PresidentDaniel Edward Howard signed into law an act which proclaimed 24 August as Flag Day, a national holiday.[1]
On 22 July 1974, theLegislature of Liberia passed an act giving authorization to the president to establish a commission to give consideration to possible changes to a number of national symbols, including the flag andnational anthem. The commission was headed by McKinley Alfred Deshield Sr. The commission sought to reexamine the symbols, and remove divisive aspects of them. PresidentWilliam Tolbert appointed 51 members to the Commission on National Unity. The commission was also called the Deshield Commission, after the man who headed it. The commission submitted their report on 24 January 1978. The report ultimately recommended no changes to the flag.[15]
In 2022, a new design for the five-hundred-dollarLiberian banknote featured an illustration of the seven-woman committee designing the Liberian flag.[16]
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 popularflag of convenience (after theflag of Panama), it is estimated that 1,700 foreign-owned ships fly the Liberian flag.[17] This brings in much of the country's revenue.[18]
The eleven stripes symbolize the signatories of theLiberian Declaration of Independence and the red and white symbolize courage and moral excellence. The white star represents the first independent republic inAfrica, above the blue square representing the African continent. The Liberian flag is modeled after and resembles theUnited States flag because Liberia was founded, colonized, established, and controlled by free people of color and formerly enslaved Black people from theUnited States and theCaribbean with the help and support of both the United States government and theAmerican Colonization Society (ACS), a private organization dedicated to the removal of free people of color from across North America. Some time 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 U.S. Navy.[18]
Keep the length 111 units and width as 209 units. The canton's each side is 50 units, the circumscribed square of the 5-point star has all sides 30 units and its center is 25 units from the left and upper edge of the flag of the canton/flag.[citation needed]
Liberia is subdivided into15 counties, each of which is entitled to its own flag. Each county flag bears the national flag of Liberia in the canton. The county flags are flown at regional offices and together encircling the national flag of Liberia at theExecutive Mansion.
The flags were introduced in 1965 byWilliam Tubman for the purpose of promoting the counties as meaningful entities.[19] Their design was inspired by Liberia's quilting tradition.
The flags (particularly River Gee County) have been the subject of widespread ridicule by members of online vexillology communities on social media platforms such as Reddit and Facebook. However, vexillologist Steven A. Knowlton argues that these discussions demonstrate a lack of understanding of the political and cultural context of the flags and of the material construction of flags from textiles as opposed to digital creation.[20]
Flag of the United States (1837–1845), with 26 stars / states was used in the first government of the Commonwealth of Liberia until Saturday, 26 April 1845
^"Background on conflict in Liberia". Archived fromthe original on 5 November 2007.Paul Cuffee advocated settling formerly enslaved African Americans in Africa. He gained support from free black leaders in the US, and members of Congress for an early emigration plan. From 1815 to 1816, he financed and captained a successful voyage to British-ruled Sierra Leone, where he helped a small group ofAfrican-American immigrants establish themselves. Cuffee believed that African-Americans could more easily "rise to be a people" in Africa than in the US, where slavery and legislated limits on black freedom were still in place. Although Cuffee died in 1817, his early efforts to help repatriate African-Americans encouraged some free blacks and theAmerican Colonization Society (ACS) to lead further settlements. Some free blacks in theUpper South created independent institutions dedicated to the idea of repatriation to Africa. The ACS was made up mostly of Friends (often calledQuakers) and slaveholders, who disagreed on the issue of slavery but found common ground in support of repatriation. Friends opposed slavery but believed blacks would face better chances for freedom in Africa than in the US. The White Americans slaveholders opposed freedom for blacks but saw repatriation as a way of avoiding rebellions
^Liberia: Open Door to Travel and Investment. Liberia. Department of Information and Cultural Affairs. 1967. p. 19.This symbol of Negro liberty was first unfurled on August 24, 1847
^Dunn, D. Elwood, ed. (2011).The annual messages of the presidents of Liberia 1848-2010: state of the nation addresses to the National Legislature: from Joseph Jenkins Roberts to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Berlin ; New York: De Gruyter. p. 1308.ISBN978-3-598-22600-7.
.jpg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
