The Red, Green, and Black Colored Flag in Martinique: A National Emblem?
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Since 1995, a red, green and black flag has been flying in the municipality of Sainte-Anne in Martinique. This flag is raised as an emblem of the Martinique nation by the separatist mayor, supported in this act by several Martinique intellectuals and by independence activists. Its installation on the pediment of the town hall provoked a court case. That lasted about ten years and developed into a tough test of strength between the mayor of Sainte-Anne and the French State. This power struggle, enacted essentially on a symbolic stage, illustrates the conflicts that accompany Martinique nationalist claims and is otherwise reflected in the popular representations of which this flag is a subject. Moreover, in the nationalist circles themselves, the flag is at the centre of divisions that are founded notably on the historical origins and the symbolic weight attributed to it, in the invocation of a past of resistance against colonial oppression. In fact, beyond the circle of intellectuals and political activists who claim it, it seems difficult, at the moment, to consider the “red, green and black” as an emblem of a Martinique national conscience.
Réseaux sociaux