In my research, the term ‘Pan-African’ kept cropping up – a term used to describe people of African birth or descent. Red represents sacrifice for freedom and equality, while green is equated with labour, development, and fertility.’ According to an article that Whitney Smith (Author of Flags and Arms Across the World) wrote for Britannica, the colours of the Ethiopian flag symbolise the following: ‘yellow for hope, justice, and equality. In short, many were inspired by the Ethiopian flag, ‘during the scramble for Africa, Ethiopia was the only African country beside Liberia that retained its sovereignty as a recognised independent country… When other African nations received their independence following World War II, many of them adopted the colours of Ethiopia's flag’. When I began my research, I noticed that many African flags used similar colours and dove a little deeper down the rabbit hole. It makes sense that my original definition laid close to this one I think that it’s likely that I derived my ‘rough idea’ for the BHM colours from the Jamaican flag, as that is my heritage, but I wanted to look into if further. Before I began my search for the origin of the BHM colours, I decided to take a sneak peek as to what the Jamaican flag colours symbolise: according to the Government of Jamaica website, ‘black depicts the strength and creativity of the people Gold, the natural wealth and beauty of sunlight and green, hope and agricultural resources'. I have Jamaican heritage, so on a personal level, the colours above felt close to home but slightly different to that of the Jamaican flag (red, gold and green). My initial - very simple - understanding was the following: As businesses added red, black, gold and green to their branding in solidarity, I wondered, why these four colours? What do they stand for? I have always had a rough idea, but when looking for a reliable resource, a definitive symbolic, I discovered that the colours run a little deeper than I thought. What Do the Black History Month Colours Stand For?īlack History Month (BHM) is a whole month dedicated to celebrating, learning and sharing appreciation for Black heritage, and this year has been a year like no other.
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