Red-, black-, and green-striped flags are ubiquitous at Black protests in the U.S. Those three colors are also found at Black-centered celebrations like Juneteenth. They are also the colors chosen for the flags of many African nations after they freed themselves from European colonialism. These colors represent the movement of Pan-Africanism.
What isn’t as familiar is the history of how those colors were chosen, and the background behind the flags that bear them. Many people with an interest in Black history may be unaware of the backstory. It’s unlikely this history will be taught in the states that are upping their attacks against the teaching of Black history.
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On Aug. 13, 1920, the Pan-American flag was adopted by Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association, commonly referred to as the UNIA. Thursday also marks Garvey’s 136th birthday: He was born on Aug. 17, 1887 in Saint Ann’s Bay, Jamaica.
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Before diving into the Pan-American flag’s history, check out this five-minute video biography reviewing Garvey’s history and impact from YouTuber Andscape’s “And the Know” series.
In this episode we look at the impact that Marcus Garvey had as the first international pan-African leader with a militant response against white supremacy. The early 1900s were an era of racial terror for African Americans, but Garvey had the courage to stand toe-to-toe against anyone in the way of Black liberation.
NPR’s “Code Switch” editor Leah Donnella wrote an in-depth story on the Pan-African flag’s history for Flag Day 2017.
Garvey and the UNIA framed the need for a flag in a political context, [historian and Marcus Garvey scholar Dr. Robert] Hill explains. “Everybody immediately seeing that flag would recognize that this is a manifestation of black aspirations, black resistance to oppression.”
Some years earlier, white minstrel singers were expressing the importance of flags as a matter of racial pride: In 1900, Will A. Heelan and J. Fred Helf composed a popular song called “Every Race Has a Flag But the Coon.”
The refrain was:
“Bonny Scotland loves a thistle,
Turkey has her crescent moon,
and what won’t Yankees do for the old red, white and blue?
Every race has a flag but the coon.”
The lyrics suggest that at the time, four decades after emancipation, many white people still didn’t consider black people full citizens of the United States — or any country, for that matter.
The creation of a flag, then, was a step for black people around the world to claim an identity in their own right. Michael Hanchard, a professor of Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, says that flags are important because they symbolize the union of governance, people and territory. For black people, the flag means “that they have some way of identifying themselves in the world. And… to also project to those people who are not members of this particular national community that they too belong, that they have membership in a world of communities, a world of nations.”
“Coons?” Oh, hell no! If I’d heard that racist ditty I’d also have instantly been thinking about why we needed a flag of our own.
Tulane University graduate student Sydney Clark wrote last year about the flag’s global symbolism for Best Colleges.
Why the Pan-African Flag Matters to Black History
Today, the Pan-African flag is still a symbol of political activism. Its deep history as a marker of Black liberation and its use throughout prior civil rights movements lend power to people who wave the flag in 2022. Used in countless movements intended to end the Black American struggle, the flag is simultaneously an indication of the advancements made and the work we still need to do to achieve justice.
The Pan-African flag is also recognized outside the U.S. During the late 20th century, many newly liberated countries on the African continent used the Pan-African colors as a basis for their own newly minted flags, including Kenya, Libya, and Malawi. Kwanzaa, Juneteenth, and other Black American celebrations also use the colors of the flag within their paraphernalia and symbology.
Iconography is an important part of many cultures. The Pan-African flag has established a precedent for how Black Americans can identify their specific traditions and history. For many in the Black community, the flag is a symbol of pride, unification, and changemaking.
The red in the flag stands for the blood that we share as African peoples, and for the blood we have shed fighting to be free. Black represents Black people in both Africa and the global diaspora. Finally, the green symbolizes both growth and fertility.
In 1973 musician and composer Roy Ayers paid tribute to the colors and flag with “Red, Black & Green.”
Red black and green
If you think about it you know what I meanRed black and green
If you think about it you know what I meanRed black and green
If you think about it you know what I meanRed black and green
If you think about it you know what I meanRed is for the eastern side
Red is for the blood we share
Red is for our thousands dead
Red is for our liberty
We fight for our own nation yeahRed black and green
If you think about it you know what I meanBlack is for the mother land
Black is for the proud black man
Black is for the beautiful face
Of a proud and beautiful place
Black is for the soil we need
So a nation we can feedRed black and green
If you think about it you know what I meanGreen is for the seed of freedom planted in our minds
Green is for that seed to grow free from all the fires
Green is for the earth to feel –Red black and green
If you think about it you know what I meanRed black and green
If you think about it you know what I meanRed black and green
If you think about it you know what I meanRed black and green
If you think about it you know what I meanRed black and green
If you think about it you know what I meanIf you think about it you know what I mean
If you think about it you know what I mean
If you think about it you know what I mean
Pan-Africanism ties the Black peoples of the diaspora to countries in Africa historically, culturally, and politically. It has been interesting to watch increased dialogue and cooperation between the diaspora and the continent. For example, consider the progress and partnership between and among CARICOM members and the heads of African states.
As always, I was uplifted listening to Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley addressing the Afreximbank 30th Anniversary Annual Meetings in Accra, Ghana, in June. She celebrated the historical Pan-African ties between the Caribbean and Black Africa.
I’d love to hear where you learned about the history of the flag (or if you hadn’t before reading this story). Join me in the comments to discuss further, and for the weekly Caribbean News Roundup.
