FLAG OF LIBERIA: HISTORY AND MEANING - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The flag of Liberia is the national symbol of this West African country. It is clearly inspired by the American flag, a country that encouraged its founding and colonization. It is made up of eleven horizontal stripes of equal size that intersperse the colors red and white. In the canton there is a dark blue square with a white five-pointed star in the center.

Virtually the history of Liberia comes from the United States. This colony was founded with the transfer of free blacks, motivated by the thought of American elites who thought that the place for blacks was Africa. Consequently, the history of its flags has always been linked to that of the United States.

Flag of Liberia. (Government of Liberia).

Liberia was the first independent country in Africa and since that event in 1847, its flag has not changed. Red and white represent morality and courage, while the eleven stripes are identified with the people who signed the act of independence.

The blue square is related to Africa, while the star has many meanings, such as freedom, independence or the unique character of the country.

History of the flag

The history of Liberia as a political and geographical entity is recent. However, the territory was inhabited by different aborigines from moments between the 12th and 14th centuries. The first peoples to populate the territory were the Gola, Kissi or Dei.

The expansion of large African groups took place from early centuries. The Songhai Empire was one of those that was established in part of the current territory of the country, although later the one that had the most presence was the Kingdom of Koya. Later, the region also received migratory movements from the Mali Empire.

Different Arab navigators coexisted along the coast of Liberia, entering from the north. Furthermore, the Portuguese explorers were present in 1462, designating the area as Costa da Pimenta.

Starting in the 17th century, in 1602, the Dutch created a port in the area. By 1663, the British established some commercial ports, but unlike other areas, they did not create colonial settlements.

American colonization

Liberia's colonization process was completely different from the rest of Africa. Its cause is in the United States. In this country, by the nineteenth century, the situation of slavery varied enormously in its territory. While in the south it continued to be normalized, to the north there were already free blacks.

However, since independence, many members of the elite thought that the appropriate place for free Afro-descendants in that country was Africa.

For many, the goal was for free blacks to have another nation on this continent. The main antecedent was that from 1787 Great Britain began to colonize Freetown, in present-day Sierra Leone, with free black Londoners.

American Colonization Society

The American attempt came through the American Colonization Society, founded in 1817. Its main goal was to bring free blacks to Africa. By December 1821, this society purchased a 58-kilometer territory near Monrovia. The settlers were in a situation of conflict with the Malinké tribes.

The colonies were growing until the different ones that had been created united in 1838 to form the Commonwealth of Liberia. The colonists suffered from different diseases which greatly increased their mortality.

The ACS appointed the first black governor of the Commonwealth of Liberia in 1841. The shortcomings of the society resulted in a forced declaration of independence, inspired by the US constitution. The governor, JJ Roberts, declared Liberia's independence in 1847.

Flag of the Commonwealth of Liberia

The existence of Liberia under the mandate of the ACS was clearly influenced by the United States. That was also reflected in the flag they used. The symbol kept the red and white horizontal stripes of the American flag and the blue square in the canton. The difference was that inside him a white cross was imposed.

Flag of the Commonwealth of Liberia. (1821-1847). (Helt).

In addition to this symbol, of course, the American flag was also used in Liberia. In this case, the version that was most present was the one that maintained 26 stars in the canton and that was in force between 1837 and 1845.

United States flag. (1837-1845). (No machine-readable author provided. Jacobolus assumed (based on copyright claims).).

Independence

The history of the independent Republic of Liberia has been marked for more than a century by the social differences created since colonization. The founding minority of black settlers and their descendants maintained an American way of life, based on Protestantism. These have traditionally opposed the indigenous and black people who inhabited the territory before their arrival.

The territory has not had major changes. In 1857 the Republic of Maryland was annexed, a colony formed under the same scheme as Liberia but which had decided to exist separately by depending on the US state of Maryland.

The flag of this country also had the same structure, but the stripes were black and yellow. Since the annexation, the Liberian flag continued to be used and the Maryland flag was discarded.

Flag of the Republic of Maryland. (1834-1857). (Government of the Republic of Maryland / Liberia. Image digitized by Jaume Ollé.).

Formation of the current flag

From the moment of independence, the country's flag was approved. Her inspiration was clear in American design. This has been the only flag that Liberia has had since its independence, and it stands out in the African vexillological panorama, since it does not use the pan-African colors that the independent countries acquired in the middle of the 20th century.

From the colonial flag, which held a cross, it was modified to one that included a star. The stripes were also reduced from thirteen, as in the American flag, to eleven, to represent the signatories of the act of independence. These series of changes were proposed by a committee of women responsible for the design of the independent Liberian flag.

The committee was chaired by Susannah Lewis, but was also joined by six other women: Sara Dripper, JB Russwurn, Rachel Johnson, Matilda Newport and Conillette Teage.

All of them were born in the United States. The flag was first hoisted on August 24, 1847 and has been in effect ever since. On that date, the flag day is celebrated year after year.

Controversy for meaning

For many years, the Liberian flag has represented discord among the population, considering that it represents the elite of settlers who came from the United States and their descendants. Some people consider that the Liberian flag is nothing more than a copy of the American one and that it does not represent the Liberian people in their diversity.

In fact, in 1974 a parliamentary commission was convened to study the future of the country's national symbols. After three and a half years of work, the commission's conclusions were not taken into account.

Meaning of the flag

The Liberian flag is inspired by the American flag. It shares its structure and colors with him and only differs in the number of stripes and stars. However, since the independence of Liberia, the elements of the flag have acquired their own meaning.

When the colonial flag was modified, the number of stripes was reduced from thirteen to eleven. That number eleven represented the number of people who put their signature on the declaration of independence of Liberia, although some authors claim that the people who signed were twelve.

In addition, the presence of a single large star acquired great symbolism. The most widespread meaning was that it represented that Liberia was the only independent African country with Western values.

The flag star has also been interpreted as one that has finally found an orbit to be in. The freedom of the slaves has also been one of the meanings attributed to the star.

Later meanings

The colors and shapes also acquired a Liberian meaning. For example, the color red along with white began to symbolize the courage and morality that characterizes the citizens of this country. Instead, the blue square may represent Africa, while the star would be Liberia.

References

1. Akpan, M. (1973). Black imperialism: Americo-Liberian rule over the African peoples of Liberia, 1841–1964. Canadian Journal of African Studies / La Revue Canadienne Des Études Africaines, 7 (2), 217-236.
2. Dennis, P. (2005). A brief history of Liberia. The Center for Applied Linguistics. Recovered from ictj.org.
3. Entralgo, A. (1979). Africa: Society. Editorial of Social Sciences: La Habana, Cuba.
4. Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (2018). President Weah Declares Friday As National Flag Day. Ministry of Foreign Affaris. Government of the Republic of Liberia. Recovered from mofa.gov.lr.
5. Nyanseor, S. (2015, September 2). The Liberian Flag, Designed or Copied? The Liberian Dialogue. Recovered from theliberiandialogue.org.
6. Smith, W. (2018). Flag of Liberia. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. Recovered from britannica.com.