SINT MARTIN (GREAT BAY/MARIGOT) - The St. Martin Unity Flag has been “hoisted” on Wikipedia! The phrase is a playful reference to the banner that symbolizes the island’s historic unity and now has its own page in the free, collaboratively edited online encyclopedia.
The Unity Flag was “adopted in 2022 by the governments of both sides of St. Martin” and “officially recognized as a cultural symbol … ‘affirming the unity and identity’ of the people of the island,” according to the Wikipedia page.
The page includes an introduction as well as sections on the flag’s “History,” “Design,” and “Use,” followed by the standard “References” and “Further reading” sections.
The St. Martin Unity Flag has steadily grown in use across the island since its unveiling on August 31, 1990, and the encyclopedia states some of the ways that this has been happening, said St. Martin poet Lasana M. Sekou. “The two children’s Unity Flag activity guides published digitally in June and now the Wikipedia page are new examples of that progress,” said Sekou.
“The Unity Flag lives in the hearts and minds of St. Martiners who see it as a banner of unity and togetherness of all the people who make up this island that we love,” said author and culture critic Fabian Adekunle Badejo this week.
“Now it also has its own Wikipedia page, offering a wider recognition of what it symbolizes: St. Martin as a Caribbean island that defies colonial divisions and affirms that its people are one and indivisible,” said Badejo, who produces the long-running Sunday talk radio Culture Time.
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Martin_Unity_Flag
