Flag of Liberia

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Flag of Liberia
Flag of Liberia.svg
Vexillological symbol : National flag on land and at sea?
Aspect ratio: 10:19
Officially accepted: July 26, 1847

The flag of Liberia was introduced as the national flag on July 26, 1847 . The Liberian flag flies at about 1,600 ships worldwide as a flag of convenience . The revenue for the registration of these ships forms an important part of the Liberian state budget.

The official flag day in Liberia is August 26th.

Description and meaning

The Liberian flag consists of six red and five white horizontal stripes. Above it, in the upper left corner ( Gösch ), there is a square, five-stripe blue field in which a five-pointed white star is centered. The star is only referred to as “large” in the flag law without specifying an exact size.

The eleven stripes are intended to symbolize the eleven signatories of the Liberian declaration of independence. The red color stands for courage, the white for moral strength. The white star represents the regained freedom of the former slaves, the blue square the African homeland and documents that when the state was founded, Liberia was the first independent western republic in Africa .

history

Historic flag? Flag of Liberia from 1827 to 1847

The flag of Liberia is very similar to the flag of the United States . The reason for this is its historical ties to the United States . Liberia was founded by the Americans as a new home for freed slaves who were resettled here. At first the country was an American colony and from 1827 it had its own flag.

In its original form, the flag of Liberia contained a cross instead of a star and had 13 stripes according to the American model. This flag was also used by ships of the colony. When in 1845 one of these ships was confiscated by the British because they did not recognize the flag, it was decided to grant the colony independence in order to give this flag international recognition. Independence came into effect on July 26, 1847. With it, the national flag also got its present appearance. The flag was designed and manufactured by a committee of seven women.

In 1906, a significant change to the flag was considered, the color and arrangement of the stripes should be changed, the background color of the star was also up for grabs, but the change was discarded.

Subnational flags

The counties of Liberia have their own flags with very different looks. What they all have in common is the Liberian national flag in the jack of the flag.

literature

Web links

Commons : Flags of Liberia  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The flag of Liberia. New York Publik Library Archive, June 25, 2010, accessed February 9, 2011 : “Source: Liberia by Sir Harry Johnston; with an appendix on the flora of Liberia by Dr. Otto Stapf; 28 colored illustrations by Sir Harry Johnston, 24 botanical drawings by Miss Matilda Smith, 402 black and white illustrations from the author's drawings and from photographs by the author and others, 22 maps by Mr. JW Addison, Capt. HD Pearson, RE, Lieut. EW Cox, RE, and the author. / Liberia, volume 1. Source Description: 2 v. : ill. (incl. ports., maps), 28 col. pl. (incl. fronts., port.), 4 folded maps; 25 cm. Location: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture / General Research and Reference Division Catalog Call Number: Sc 916.66-J (Johnston, H. Liberia) Digital ID: 1112118 Record ID: 55493 “