The Secret History Behind Liberia's Flag
Liberia's flag was stitched by hand by a committee of seven women.
Before independence in 1847, Governor Joseph Jenkins Roberts asked Susannah Elizabeth Lewis, born Waring, to lead the committee. The other members were Matilda Newport, Rachel Johnson, Mary Hunter, Sarah McGill Russwurm, Colonette Teage Ellis and Sara Draper. The flag was adopted on August 24, 1847.
It has eleven red and white stripes, one for each of the eleven signers of the Declaration of Independence, and a white star on a blue canton. It looks like the American flag on purpose, since Liberia was founded by free people of color and formerly enslaved people from the United States and the Caribbean. The single star proclaims it as the first independent republic in Africa.
The date printed on every Liberia design in our catalog, July 26, 1847, is the day of the Declaration of Independence.
Seven women, eleven stripes and one lone star.
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