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Is your Belizean flag a fake?

GeneralIs your Belizean flag a fake?
At a time of the year when Belizeans should be learning their true history and when the spirit of patriotism or love for country runs high in the veins of those at home and abroad, many are oblivious to the fact that the flags they are flying while singing the anthem of freedom and independence are founded on complete falsehood – disfigured cartoon-looking characters which totally misrepresent Belize’s national history.
  
One preschool teacher told us that some years ago, the Ministry of Education sent out some Belizean flags to schools and both men on the flags were “red like devil.” She also observed that while some flags have one yellow and one black man, there are flags that have both men yellow.
  
Belize is the only independent nation having a flag with human beings, says the World CIA Factbook. Most people will tell you that the color of the men on the flag is not an issue – and it clearly seems to not be an issue even for some Parliamentarians who pose in front of any version of the flag in official photos. The photos we have seen prove that there is no standard to the flags that they use.
  
Both men on the original Independence flag (pictured here) were darker than any of the men on the flags today, and they have been lightened and indiscriminately colorized over the years. There are clearly no national standards to specify how these men should look, though we have never seen any of the men colored green or purple.
  
The background to this article appears in the 2005 article “Changing the Coat of Arms”printed on page 42 of this issue. The Coat of Arms you see along with that article preceded Independence. The Coat of Arms is one of Belize’s national symbols which also appears on the Flag of Belize. We’ve checked with The National Assembly, the Government Press Office, and The Belize Archives Department and finally we were led to the George Price Center, a non-profit organization based in Belmopan, where we tracked down the first flag flown at Independence.
  
The photo appears here in black and white, but we will print it on our website in full color. According to the Center, it has been on display since the opening of the Center on January 15, 2004.
  
According to the Government of Belize’s web posting, the flag should “rally all citizens, regardless of their political affiliation.”
  
The flag flown on Independence Day had been the result of work done by the National Symbols Committee, which had invited citizens to submit designs for a National Flag.
  
According to a researcher at The Archives Department, that committee was chaired by Joe Belisle and included men like Philip Zuniga, Frank Lizama, Philip Goldson and Manuel Esquivel.
  
The official description of the “Coat of Arms” makes it clear that they should be “two woodcutters” and anyone knowing their history will know that there could be no woodcutters of such hues as yellow, cream or red.
  
According to GOB, “The Coat of Arms embodies an important aspect of the history of Belize, as the mahogany industry formed the basis of our economy in the 18th and 19th centuries.”
  
Amandala understands from the Clerk of the National Assembly, Eddie Webster, that the declarations for the national symbols were read on September 23, 1981. At press time, we were unable to get the specific texts.

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