The
story goes that, after successfully winning its independence from
France, the new nation of Haiti adopted its first purely-Haitian flag
on this date in 1803. 
Supposedly, the revolutionary leader
Jean-Jacques Dessalines took a French flag, ripped the white stripe
out, and asked his god-daughter to sew together the blue and red
stripes. Whether or not the story is true, Dessalines's god-daughter,
Catherine Flon, has appeared on Haitian postage stamps and money, and
her sewing project is honored with a national holiday!
The
current flag of Haiti is still blue atop red, but there is a white
rectangle in the middle on which is sewn weapons and a palm tree,
with the motto “L 'Union Fait La Force.” Try to figure out
what this French motto means before you get to the answer at the
bottom of the article.
Most
of us think “earth-quake” first, when we hear the name Haiti,
because of the devas-tating 7.0 earthquake that flattened the nation's
capital in 2010. But Haiti is also known for beautiful beaches and
waterfalls. Check out these photos.
Haiti
is unique in the world because it was the first black-led republic in
the world, and it is the only nation that was founded by slaves who
revolted successfully against their masters. (There have been some
other successful slave revolts, but they did not result in a new
nation.) Finally, Haiti is the only fully independent nation in the
Americas whose primary language is French (Canada has two official
languages, including French, but French is the minority language
everywhere but Quebec.)
Translation
of motto: “Unity Makes Strength”
Also
on this date:
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