Posted
on August 24, 2015
The
Liberian flag tells us something important – that Liberia has some
connection to America. You can see how like the U.S. flag it is:
Most
African nations were colonized by European nations, and some were
bandied about a bit from one European nation to another. But only
Liberia started as an American colony.
Don't
get me wrong; Liberia was never an official colony of the United
States. But a private organization, the American Colonization
Society, started Liberia as a place in Africa for free-born blacks
and previously enslaved people.
 |
| This map shows where Liberia (colored blue) is located on the coast of Western Africa. |
In
1822 the first ships traveled from the Americas back to Western
Africa with volunteers to establish the colony. Eventually, more than
13,000 Americans settled in Liberia. A few other colonies were
established, called things such as Mississippi-in-Africa and the
Republic of Maryland, but Liberia annexed them. In 1847, Liberia
declared its independence.
Of
course there were people living in Liberia who had never lived in
America, but the leaders of the new nation were the
“Americo-Liberians,” as they called themselves. They patterned
their new constitution on the U.S. Constitution; they modeled their
homes and fashions on those of Southern U.S. slaveowners; and they based their flag on the U.S. flag.
I
read that the Liberian flag has 11 stripes to represent the 11
signers of the Liberian Declaration of Independence. Red stands for
courage, white stands for purity, and the blue field represents the
continent of Africa. The single white star represents freedom; the
name Liberia means “Land of the Free.”
Today,
on flag day, children are taught about their country's history and
flag, and they are given small flags to hold during a parade.
For
more about Liberia, check out this earlier post.
Here are two photos of Liberia:
Also
on this date:
Plan
ahead:
Check
out my Pinterest boards for:
And
here are my Pinterest boards for:
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