Haitians to celebrate Flag Day in Dominica

Haitians to celebrate Flag Day
BY Shermain Bique, News Editor/reporter

The Haitian community in Dominica will stage an event dubbed “Flag Day” at Portsmouth on Sunday.

Petit Louis Anceus, one of the organizers says it is a major event and very meaningful to the Haitian population.

“We want to call everyone together. We are one people, one blood and one nation. We also have hundreds of Haitians in Dominica and we would like for all of them to come together," he said.

Another highlight of the event is a church service.

In Haiti, Flag Day is a major national holiday celebrated with great fanfare on the grounds of the national palace. Flag Day is also observed by Haitians in the Diaspora. In The United States for example, teenagers whether in High School give homage to the red and blue by carrying it around with them or on their persona for at least a week. Haiti’s flag’s origin is tightly linked to a history of struggle for freedom.

In the early days of revolt in St. Domingue, the slaves did not have a flag. However, they did notice that their former masters were using the French Flag. From 1791 to about 1793, the revolt became more widespread and gave rise to a number of large groups still fighting independently.