St. Martin Unity Flag

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File:Flag flying unity flag.jpg

The St. Martin Unity Flag, launched on August 31, 1990, as “The National Flag of St. Martin” at Philipsburg Jubilee Library.

The St. Martin Unity Flag was raised officially for the first time on November 11, 2022, at the annual St. Martin Day frontier ceremonies by the governments of both parts of the Caribbean island. On September 29, 2022, the Territorial Council, led by President Louis Mussington, in Marigot, and on November 7, 2022, the Council of Ministers, led by Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs, in Philipsburg, representing the governments of the North and South of the island respectively, adopted the use of the St. Martin Unity Flag as a “cultural symbol”—uniquely for use during joint activities by both governments—“affirming the unity and identity” of the people of Saint Martin.

History

The St. Martin Unity Flag consists of horizontal bands of yellow, blue (light), red, blue (medium), and green. The emblem in the canton, symbolizing unity, labor, justice, healing, productivity, and progress, is illustrated in black.

The flag was first unveiled on August 31, 1990. It is today one of the most visible symbols designed during the island’s modern period that has come to represent the historical and cultural unity of the entire people and land of the island of St. Martin in the Caribbean.

The name “Unity Flag” evolved after the banner was launched as the “National Flag of St. Martin.” Within weeks, names such as “The People’s Flag” and “The Cultural Flag” could be heard in public discussions “on the road” and in the media when reference was being made to the meaning, purpose, and later gradual use of the flag. By the late 1990s, the name “Unity Flag” for the National Flag was heard more often during radio talk shows and in connection to the banner’s increasing display at public protests, cultural manifestations, sports tournaments, official government and church activities, and school projects by children on both halves of the island.

The writer Lasana M. Sekou developed the concept design and description of the National Flag of St. Martin from numerous interviews with senior citizens and research into the history and culture of St. Martin during his work as an editor of the Newsday newspaper from the mid- to late-1980s. In 1990, Sekou organized and worked with the ad hoc Information Committee on National Symbols (ICONS) to launch the unity banner before a full house of St. Martin people from all walks of life, backgrounds, and from the North and South, at the Philipsburg Jubilee Library, on August 31, 1990. The members of ICONS were Daniella Jeffry-Pilot, Napolina Gumbs, Horace Whit, Rhoda Arrindell, Shujah Reiph, and Lasana M. Sekou. On November 7 that year, Mayor Albert Fleming in Marigot said that he hoped "that all the people of St. Martin will be proud to fly the National Flag.". On November 9, in Philipsburg, which is traditionally called Great Bay, government leader Claude Wathey, commenting on the new book The Independence Papers – Readings on a New Political Status for St. Maarten/St. Martin, which served as a platform for illustrating the unity banner on its cover, wished Sekou, editor of the compilation, "every success to you and the others involved in this project."

On September 16, 2020, "an unprecedented unity march took place in St. Martin. ... when over 1000 people converged, from the north and south, at the central Frontier monument in Bellevue to protest against border controls at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The single-most symbol, raised like a river in the hands of scores of marchers" was the St. Martin Unity Flag. The march, which was "organized by the Soualiga United Movement and supported by several other nongovernmental organizations and foundations, saw a large number of people marching against the checkpoints that have been destroying the economic activity on both sides at the island." Politicians from both halves of the island joined the protesters. "Several Members of Parliament from St. Maarten," including Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs joined the demonstrators. Also "among them were members of the Territorial Council such as Louis Mussington. ... The protesters and organizers of the march also raised the Unity Flag at the border points" that were "manned by the Gendarmes and Police Aux Frontiers."

In 2022, at the 32nd anniversary of the National Flag of St. Martin, the banner had come to be popularly known as the St. Martin Unity Flag, the Unity Flag of St. Martin, the Unity Flag, and often identified with discussions and activities relating to the traditional unity of the people and ideas about the unification of Saint Martin. The spelling of “St. Martin” is based on the traditional spelling of the name for both parts of the island and for the whole island up to at least 1936.

The St. Martin Unity Flag as the island's first cultural symbol to be adopted officially by the governments of both territories was not without opposition among elected officials. There were heated debates in the Conseil Territorial de Saint-Martin in Marigot on the September 29 agenda point of adopting the banner. On November 7, the Central Committee of the Parliament of Sint Maarten was unable to meet due to a lack of quorum for the "Presentation by and discussion with the Minister of Education, Culture, Youth, and Sport" Rodolphe Samuel "on the recent decision by the Council of Ministers on the St. Martin Unity Flag (IS/146/2022-2023 dated November 2, 2022)." One Member of Parliament in Philipsburg released a statement to the media during the second week in November, pointing out that, “Personally, I do not recognize nor support the flag, but I support the idea behind it.”

Symbolism

The St. Martin Unity Flag is described as follows:

National Flag

The National Flag of St. Martin (North and South), unveiled on August 31, 1990, is designed to represent both parts or sides of the island and her people as one nation. The National Flag is today used in a variety of ways by the people of St. Martin as a concrete socio-cultural symbol that embodies the history and hopes, the labor and love, the tribulations and triumphs, the unity and strength, ideals and progress of the St. Martin people.

The “meaning” of the colors

The colors of the National Flag of St. Martin are green, medium blue, red, light blue, yellow, and black.

Green represents the fertile and beautiful land of St. Martin that sustains our people. Green also represents the succession lands which are fundamental to St. Martin’s core socio-cultural values. Green is the foundation color bar of the National Flag. It “means” that through individual initiative and by working together, in mutual respect, by the guiding light of liberty, the nurturing bonds of brotherhood, and undying love for the land, the people of St. Martin will achieve democracy, equality, justice, peace, independence, greater unity, and prosperity.

Blue (medium) represents the sea that surrounds us with abundant life and is one of our prime natural resources. Medium blue is the second color bar of the National Flag. It “means” that St. Martiners should strive to be as strong and resourceful as the sea and live the power of truth—as the “waves of the sea,” philosophically, represent righteousness and the diffusion of spiritual truth over the land.

Red (warm) represents the noble blood of our people—past, present, and future. Red is the National Flag’s third successive color bar in ascending order. It “means” that our people’s blood runs strong, deep, proud, rich, and eternal as the sea.

Blue (light) symbolizes the vast sky as it relates to the positive and boundless activities and potential that grow from the people. Blue is the fourth ascending color bar. It “means” that our people must aspire to achieve the highest in personal, familial, and national development and international solidarity and peaceful coexistence, with the proverbial sky as the only limit.

Yellow symbolizes the regenerative energy of the sun. Yellow is the top color bar. It “means” that the life-generating victories realized, and to be realized through the help and blessing of God and the resiliency of St. Martin’s people, will guide us consciously and continually to an ever brighter and prosperous future which we must all work for together.

The Emblem

The Emblem in the canton (upper left-hand corner on the yellow bar when facing the National Flag) symbolizes the historical, social, and cultural unity of the people and land of St. Martin. The symbols in the canton are illustrated in black. Black, for the National Flag, signifies the striving for spiritual perfection within and the striving for harmony with humanity and nature.

The central unification symbol is the Frontier Monument (an obelisk), born out of the people’s belief and maintenance of our island as one nation.

Our people’s labor during the unholy slave period and our subsequent building of St. Martin, while continually attaining our freedom, is symbolized by a pyramid-shaped out-cropping of a Rock Wall. The pyramid is patterned after the shape of harvested salt (“salt heaps”) when salt-picking was consistently the island’s single most industry before and after 1848, and refers to the people’s labor being the “Salt of the Land.” The rocks symbolize strength and building; they also “mark” the first set of stones piled by our ancestors on the spot where the Treaty of Concordia was signed in 1648, peacefully “partitioning” the island and laying the groundwork for coexistence as one people.

The symbols of unity through labor are flanked by two Stars, representing the unity of the people from the North and South of St. Martin.

At the foundation of the National Flag’s Emblem is the “Sword of St. Martin,” symbolizing defense of country, and justice for all. The legend of the fourth century soldier/bishop Martin, from whom the island got her current name, tearing his soldier’s cloak in half to give part as clothing to a poor man—an act which is invariably expressed in the noble hospitality St. Martiners traditionally show to others from a position of confidence and fairness—is implied.

Above the sword’s hilt is the Aloe Plant, a symbol of healing and curing, of internal and external ailments. The aloe plant in this position signifies that a nation must continually strive to heal its people through the administration of justice.

The sword’s blade is sheathed, as a counterbalance and as a sign of peace and friendship, by the leaves of the Sandbox Tree. The Sandbox tree is a traditional symbol of wisdom. Under this tree, folktales, proverbs, family, social and “national” views and histories; cultural manifestations; and values of love were passed down from one generation to the next. Therefore, the sword of defense and justice is tempered by wisdom and motivated by the free will to defend, share fairly, and heal.

The Sandbox leaves (left side) and the Tamarind leaves and Fruit (right side) encircle the center symbols of unity, labor, peoplehood, justice, and healing. The tamarind tree was sacred to the enslaved ancestors because of the shade it provided from the sun’s scorching heat. Today it remains a pride of St. Martin’s trees. The tamarind fruit represents for the National Flag the bitter-sweet realities of life. It is through these realities that St. Martiners must endure, with the strength of this tree, fruitful and diverse in our productivity as the fruits and leaves of the tamarind tree.

The crowning glory of the Emblem is the Brown Pelican in flight. The Brown Pelican is St. Martin’s national bird and is facing east on the National Flag. The pelican symbolizes grace, resourcefulness, courage, and sacrifice. It is said that during times of hardship, this noble and courageous bird will tear open its breast with its beak and feed its young on its own blood—meaning that the pelican will sacrifice its life by any means necessary so that the young, the future, will be provided with an opportunity to live. (© 1989/1990)

Further reading

• B.A. “L’Unity Flag flottera sur tout un peuple en ce 11 novembre.” le97150-646, 10 Nov. 2022: 2.
• Daizey, Valérie. “Adopté comme symbole culturel de l’île, le drapeau « Unity Flag » n’a pas fait l’unanimité” le97150-646.fr, 30 Sep. 2022.
• Fadel, Nadine, avec Pédurand, Hervé. "La célébration du ‘Saint-Martin’s Day’ marqué par l’omniprésence du ‘Unity Flag.’" la1ere.francetvinfo.fr, 13 Nov. 2022. https://la1ere.francetvinfo.fr/guadeloupe/saint-martin/la-celebration-du-saint-martin-s-day-marque-par-l-omnipresence-du-unity-flag-1339824.html.
• Gasnet, Estelle. “L'adoption du Saint-Martin Unity flag comme symbole d'unité, fait débat sur la forme” SoualigaPost.com, 3 Oct. 2022. http://www.soualigapost.com/fr/actualite/42698/com/ladoption-du-saint-martin-unity-flag-comme-symbole-dunité-fait-débat-sur-la.
• Hodge, Charles Borromeo. “National Flag of St. Martin.” Songs & Images of St. Martin, House of Nehesi Publishers, 1997.
• Leclercq, Juliette. “Unity Flag : l’interview de Louis Mussington.” lepelican-journal.com, 9 Nov. 2022. https://www.lepelican-journal.com/saint-martin/politique/Unity-Flag-l-interview-de-Louis-Mussington-20956.html.
• Samuel, Rodolphe E. “Sint Maarten Day message from Minister Samuel.” The Daily Herald, 10 Nov. 2022.
• Singh, Alita. “The birth of St. Martin/St. Maarten Day – ‘This is what my father told me …’.” (St. Martin/St. Maarten Day Special 2010). The Daily Herald, 9 Nov. 2010: 10.
• “St. Martin Unity Flag presented to Parliament as a cultural symbol.” soualiganewsday.com, 9 Nov. 2022. https://www.soualiganewsday.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=46678:st-martin-unity-flag-presented-to-parliament-as-a-cultural-symbol&Itemid=518.
• "The unity of St. Martin is alive." St. Maarten/St. Martin Newsday, 9-10 Nov. 1990: 12.
• Toure, Siya. “Le Saint-Martin Unity Flag est officiellement adopté par les deux parties de l'île.” SoualigaPost.com, 10 Nov. 2022. http://www.soualigapost.com/fr/actualite/42941/culture/le-saint-martin-unity-flag-est-officiellement-adopté-par-les-deux-parties-de.
• “Unity Flag salute to the 165th anniversary of St. Martin Emancipation.” pearlfmradio.sx, 25 June 2013. http://pearlfmradio.sx/2013/06/25/unity-flag-salute-to-the-165th-anniversary-of-st-martin-emancipation/

External links

• “Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs St. Martin Day 2022 Message.” Video. Government of Sint Maarten. 11 Nov. 2022. YouTube.
• “ST. MARTIN UNITY FLAG PRESS CONFERENCE.” Video. Government of Sint Maarten. 9 Nov. 2022. YouTube.
• “ST MARTIN DAY 2022 - UNITY AND FRIENDSHIP.” Video. Government of Sint Maarten. 15 Nov. 2022. Facebook.

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