If you walk around downtown Milwaukee in late June week, you may notice a new-ish flag flying underneath the Stars and Stripes outside City Hall.
This red and blue flag featuring a white star and sunburst in the middle is the Juneteenth flag. It has flown at Milwaukee’s City Hall every year since 2020 and is a symbolic representation of the end of slavery in the United States.
The flag flies in honor of Juneteenth, the recently established federal holiday celebrating the final end of slavery in the U.S.
Here’s what the Juneteenth flag represents and what to know about the holiday.
What does the Juneteenth flag represent?
The Juneteenth flag was originally designed in 1997 by Ben Haith, activist and founder of the National Juneteenth Celebration Foundation, and illustrated by Lisa Jeanne Graf.
Each element of the flag represents an aspect of Black American freedom. According to Graf, the red, white and blue color palette is a reminder that enslaved people and their descendants were and are Americans. The red also represents the blood shed by those who’ve fought for freedom.
The white star in the flag’s center has two meanings, Haith told CNN. First, it represents Texas, the Lone Star State, where Union soldiers informed the country’s last remaining enslaved people that they were free in 1865. The star also represents the freedom of Black people in all 50 states.
The sunburst surrounding the star is meant to resemble a nova, a term astronomers use for a new star. On the flag, this represents the new beginnings of freedom. The arc shape dividing the red and blue sections represents “a new horizon” of opportunities and promise that lay ahead for Black Americans.
Finally, many versions of the flags include the date “June 19, 1865,” written in white text. This was the day soldiers informed those last enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, of their freedom.
When is Juneteenth?
Juneteenth takes place on June 19 each year. In 2024, the holiday falls on a Wednesday.
What is Juneteenth?
Juneteenth, officially Juneteenth National Independence Day, commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.
On June 19, 1865, Union Army soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, with the news that the Civil War was over and all slaves were free. This was two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. The Emancipation Proclamation freed all slaves in the Confederate states in 1863, but it was not enforced in areas still under Confederate control until the end of the Civil War.
Juneteenth was celebrated in Black communities as early as 1866. Milwaukee is home to one of the oldest Juneteenth celebrations in the northern U.S. In 1972, the Northcott Neighborhood House, a community center in Milwaukee’s Harambee neighborhood, hosted its first annual Juneteenth celebration.
In 2021, President Joe Biden signed a bill making Juneteenth an official federal holiday. It has been widely celebrated as such since 2022.
This story has been updated to include new information.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What is the Juneteenth flag, and why does it fly over Milwaukee?
Reporting by Claire Reid, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
