Stop Flying the Pan African Flag on Juneteenth

There's an actual Juneteenth Flag and it's packed with symbolism

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Now that Juneteenth is a national holiday, every year people attempt to celebrate the holiday and they make a sincere but misguided mistake.

They fly the Pan-African flag.

If you don’t know it by name, you probably recognize its colors. It was first designed in 1920 by Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) to be a symbol of unity for Africans across the globe.

The red stands for the blood that binds together all Africans and that they have shed in the pursuit of liberation. Black is for the melanated skin that is so characteristic of African people. Green stands for the natural resources and wealth of the African land.

The Pan-African Flag

The Pan-African flag is a bold declaration of the solidarity of the global African diaspora. It should be flown, honored, and celebrated.

The Pan-African flag should not replace the Juneteenth flag.

The Juneteenth was initially designed by Ben Haith with the help of an illustrator, Lisa Jeanne Graf, in 1997, and revised to the current one in 2000.

The star represents Texas, the Lone Star state, where enslaved people first heard of their emancipation on June 19, 1865 in Galveston Texas (some Juneteenth flags have the date written vertically on the edge). It also is emblematic of the stars representing all 50 states on the US flag.

The starburst outline is a nova which, in astronomy, is a phenomenon when a star shines so brightly it looks brand new. On this flag, it symbolizes new beginnings for Black people.

The curve in the middle of the flag is a new horizon of possibilities and an expansive future.

Graf explained the reason for the colors, “The red, white, and blue colors communicate that the American Slaves, and their descendants were all Americans.”

The deliberate use of the colors of the US flag on a symbol commemorating Black emancipation asserted that Black people are true Americans in resistance to assumptions that they are somehow un-American or less American than white people.

This is why it is important to fly the Juneteenth flag and not just the Pan-African flag.

While the entire African diaspora shares a common homeland and the ongoing struggle against global white supremacy, there are particularities.

Juneteenth is about a specific aspect of United States history—emancipation from race-based chattel slavery. The Juneteenth flag, especially with its intentional use of red, white, and blue colors to signify belonging reminds us of the distinct history of slavery, resistance, and freedom of Black people in the US.

There’s nothing wrong with flying the Pan-African flag. Fly it year round, if you’d like!

You can even fly the Pan-African flag right alongside the Juneteenth flag.

This goes beyond mere flag etiquette. It’s about the singular chance we have while a holiday is still new to preserve and extend its meaning for future generations. Happy Juneteenth!

Did you change any of your thoughts or opinions about Juneteenth representation after reading this article? Share your comments below!

Time and again, people endured the most horrendous results of racism, but somehow they kept going. They kept working, loving, fighting, and moving toward a better future.

How? How do people see the worst of humanity, experience the most demoralizing setbacks, and still find the resolve to work for change? How do they not give up? What keeps them going?

There is a relentless drive in human beings, both inward and transcendent, that demands dignity and propels our progress—it is the spirit of justice.