The flag of Haiti (

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

: ''drapeau d'Haïti'';

Haitian Creole Haitian Creole (; , ; , ), or simply Creole (), is a French-based creole languages, French-based creole language spoken by 10 to 12million people worldwide, and is one of the two official languages of Haiti (the other being French), where it ...

: ''drapo Ayiti'') is a bicolour featuring two horizontal bands coloured blue and red, emblazoned by a white rectangular panel bearing the

coat of arms of Haiti The coat of arms of Haiti is the national coat of arms of the Republic of Haiti. It was originally introduced in 1807, and it has appeared in its current form since 1986. Since this Haitian national symbol does not conform to the rules of herald ...

. The coat of arms depicts a trophy of weapons atop a green hill and a

royal palm ''Roystonea regia'', commonly known as the royal palm, Cuban royal palm, or Florida royal palm, is a species of Arecaceae, palm native to Mexico, the Caribbean, Florida, and parts of Central America. A large and attractive palm, it has been plan ...

symbolizing independence. The palm is topped by the Cap of Liberty. The motto ('

Unity makes strength "Unity makes strength"; ; ; . is a motto that has been used by various states and entities throughout history. It is used by Belgium, Bulgaria, Malaysia and Georgia (country), Georgia on their national coat of arms, coats of arms and is the ...

') appears on a white ribbon below the arrangement.

Present design

National flag

The present design was first used by the Republic of Haiti under President

Alexandre Pétion Alexandre Sabès Pétion (; 2 April 1770 – 29 March 1818) was the first president of the Republic of Haiti from 1807 until his death in 1818. One of Haiti's founding fathers, Pétion belonged to the revolutionary quartet that also includes ...

in 1806. It was most recently readopted on 25 February 2012 under Title I, Chapter I, Article 3 of the current

Constitution of Haiti The Constitution of Haiti (, ) was modeled after the constitutions of the United States, Poland and France. The latest version of the document was approved by Parliament in March 2011 and came into effect on June 20, 2012. History A total of 22 ...

L'emblême de la Nation Haïtienne est le Drapeau qui répond à la description suivante:

The English translation adopted by the Embassy of Haiti in Washington, D.C., reads:

The emblem of the Haitian Nation shall be a flag with the following description:

Contrary to the constitutional mandate, the white field is rarely (if ever) rendered as a square. A rectangle with an 11:9 ratio has been adopted by the Haitian Ministry of Information and Coordination since 1987 or earlier. The flag of

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

is one of six national flags whose designs incorporate a depiction of the flag itself, the others being the flags of

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

, the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

, and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

. Notably,

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

has a state flag which is authorized to be used by the government only, which uses the coat of arms of Costa Rica (which includes two ships each flying the flag of Costa Rica). The flag is one of four national flags of

UN member states The United Nations comprise sovereign states and the world's largest intergovernmental organization. All members have equal representation in the UN General Assembly. The Charter of the United Nations defines the rules for admission of ...

to feature a

gun A gun is a device that Propulsion, propels a projectile using pressure or explosive force. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns or water cannon, cannons), or gas (e.g. light-gas gun). So ...

, the others being those of

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

, and

Civil flag

The civil flag and ensign omits the coat of arms.

Colours scheme

History

The first purely Haitian flag was adopted on 18 May 1803, on the last day of the Congress of

Arcahaie Arcahaie (; ) is a commune in the Arcahaie Arrondissement, in the Ouest department of Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the ...

, about north of

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( ; ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Haiti, most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 1,200,000 in 2022 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The me ...

. Haitian lore holds that the newly appointed revolutionary leader

Jean-Jacques Dessalines Jean-Jacques Dessalines (Haitian Creole: ''Jan-Jak Desalin''; ; 20 September 1758 – 17 October 1806) was the first Haitian Emperor, leader of the Haitian Revolution, and the first ruler of an independent First Empire of Haiti, Haiti under th ...

created the flag by taking a French tricolor and ripping out the white center, which he discarded. He then asked

Catherine Flon Catherine Flon (1772-1831) was a Haitian seamstress, patriot and national heroine. She is regarded as one of the symbols of the Haitian Revolution and independence. She is celebrated for sewing the first Haitian flag on May 18, 1803, and maintain ...

, his god-daughter, to sew the remaining bands together. The white

pale Pale may refer to: Jurisdictions * Medieval areas of English conquest: ** Pale of Calais, in France (1360–1558) ** The Pale, or the English Pale, in Ireland *Pale of Settlement, area of permitted Jewish settlement, western Russian Empire (179 ...

removed, the blue was taken to represent Haiti's

Black African Black is a racial classification of people, usually a Politics, political and Human skin color, skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid- to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin and ofte ...

citizens and the red the ''

gens de couleur In ancient Rome, a gens ( or , ; : gentes ) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same ''nomen gentilicium'' and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens, sometimes identified by a distinct cognomen, was cal ...

''. The story is widely known in Haiti: the anniversary of the date is celebrated as the Flag and Universities Day and images of Catherine Flon have appeared on Haitian currency and stamps. Following his proclamation as Emperor Jacques I, Dessalines promulgated a new constitution on 20 May 1805. In it, the colors of the flag were altered to black and red. This flag being subsequently adopted by

Henri Christophe Henri Christophe (; 6 October 1767 – 8 October 1820) was a key leader in the Haitian Revolution and the only monarch of the Kingdom of Haiti. Born in the British West Indies, British Caribbean, Christophe was possibly of Senegambian descent ...

, the republicans under

returned to the colors blue and red, subsequently turning them horizontal and adding the newly adopted Haitian coat of arms. During the period of the Haitian Empire of

Faustin I Faustin-Élie Soulouque (; 15 August 1782 – 3 August 1867) was a Haitian politician and military commander who served as President of Haiti from 1847 to 1849 and Emperor of Haiti from 1849 to 1859. Soulouque was a general in the Haitian Arm ...

, his coat of arms was used on the flag and for official functions, but it was subsequently abandoned upon his removal from office. Until 1937, the

flag of Liechtenstein The national flag of the Principality of Liechtenstein () consists of two horizontal bands, one blue and one red, charged with a gold crown in the canton. In use since 1764 and officially enshrined into the nation's constitution in 1921, it ha ...

was also plain horizontal blue and red. The match was first noted at the 1936 Summer Olympics, and so Liechtenstein altered its flag by adding a golden crown to the canton. Between 1964 and 1986, the family dictatorships of François "Papa Doc" and Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier returned to Dessalines' black and red design. They included the national coat of arms, but altered the flags in its trophy to black as well. The

Duvalier Duvalier is a French surname, and may refer to: * François Duvalier François Duvalier (; 14 April 190721 April 1971), also known as Papa Doc, was a Haiti, Haitian politician and Haitian Vodou, Vodouisant who served as the president of Haiti ...

flag also have a black and red symbol that compared to

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

. File:Flag of Haiti (1791-1789).svg, Flag used for the whole island under the Marquis de Caradeu (with supposed powers from the French Assembly), commander of the National Guard of Port-au-Prince File:Flag of Haiti (1803–1804).svg, Flag from 1803 to 1804 File:Flag of the First Empire of Haiti.svg, Flag of the Empire of Haiti (1804–1806) File:Flag of Haiti (1806–1811).svg, Flag of the

State of Haiti The State of Haiti (; ) was the name of the state in northern Haiti. It was created on 17 October 1806 following the assassination of Emperor Jacques I and the overthrow of the First Empire of Haiti. The northern State of Haiti was ruled by Hen ...

(1806–1811) File:Royal Flag of Haiti (1811–1814).svg, Flag of the

Kingdom of Haiti The Kingdom of Haiti, or Kingdom of Hayti (; ), was the state established by Henri Christophe on 28 March 1811 when he proclaimed himself King Henri I after having previously ruled as president of the State of Haiti, in the northern part of the ...

(1811–1814) File:Flag of Kingdom of Haiti.svg, Flag of the

(1814–1820) File:Flag of Haiti (1807–1849).svg, Flag of the

Republic of Haiti (1806–1820) The first Republic of Haiti (; ) controlled the southern portions of Haiti from 1806 until 1820. The republic, commonly referred to as South Haiti during its existence, was created on 17 October 1806, following the assassination of Emperor Jacqu ...

and

Republic of Haiti (1820–1849) The Republic of Haiti (, , ) from 1820 to 1849 was effectively a continuation of the first Republic of Haiti that had been in control of the south of what is now Haiti since 1806. This period of Haitian history commenced with the fall of the Ki ...

File:Flag of Haiti (1849–1859).svg, Flag of the Empire of Haiti (1849–1859) File:Flag of Haiti (1820–1849, 1859–1964).svg, Flag from 1859 to 1964, used by the

Republic of Haiti (1859–1957) A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

File:Flag of Haiti (1964–1986).svg, Flag from 1964 to 1986, used by

Duvalier family The Duvalier family (French language, French: ''Dynastie des Duvalier''; Haitian Creole: ''Dinasti Duvalier'') was an Autocracy, autocratic hereditary dictatorship in Haiti that lasted almost 29 years, from 1957 until 1986, spanning the rule of ...

File:Flag of Haiti.svg, Flag of Haiti (since 1986) File:Flag of Haiti (civil).svg, Civil flag of Haiti (since 1986) File:Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg, Flag during

United States occupation of Haiti The United States occupation of Haiti began on July 28, 1915, when 330 United States Marine Corps, US Marines landed at Port-au-Prince, Republic of Haiti (1859–1957), Haiti, after the Citibank, National City Bank of New York convinced the ...

(1915–1934)

Notes

References

External links

* * *
The Armorial of Haiti: Symbols of Nobility in the Reign of Henry Christophe
* {{Haiti topics

National symbols of Haiti Culture of Haiti