History of the Haiti Flag: 1803 Revolution, Independence & the 1986 Restoration

1The revolutionary flag of 1803

The best-known account links the flag’s creation to Jean-Jacques Dessalines during the Haitian Revolution. The white band of the French tricolour was removed and the remaining blue and red were joined to represent the break with colonial rule.

The exact details of the earliest revolutionary flags varied, but blue and red quickly became the central colors of the new Haitian state.

2Independence in 1804

Haiti declared independence on January 1, 1804. In the years that followed, changes in government produced changes in flag arrangement and state emblems. Some regimes used vertical versions, black-and-red combinations, or different arms.

3Why did the flag change so often?

Haiti’s nineteenth-century political history included empires, republics and rival governments. Each political order could alter the national colors, their orientation or the coat of arms. The blue-and-red combination nevertheless remained deeply associated with the revolutionary founding of the country.

4The Duvalier-era black and red flag

Under François Duvalier, Haiti adopted a black-and-red vertical flag in 1964. The change replaced the historic blue stripe with black and remained in force through the Duvalier period.

5The 1986 restoration

After the fall of Jean-Claude Duvalier in 1986, Haiti restored the blue-over-red horizontal bicolour. The 1987 Constitution formally describes the national emblem as two equal horizontal bands—blue above red—with the arms of the Republic on a white square at the center.

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