Scaling back the official Flag Day observance on June 13 (see related story) due to financial constraints facing the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports (ECYS) is no big deal. It’s not a public holiday and has never been very widely supported.
The lack of a district school parade will primarily disappoint pupils, teachers and parents. The customary public programme is being replaced by a “more digital and community-centred celebration” including contributions from schoolchildren, messages from students who would normally participate in the parade, a symbolic flag-hoisting ceremony, a short media feature on the history and significance of Flag Day, and recorded messages from officials.
While that sounds nice, it’s obviously not the same. However, St. Maarten/St. Martin Day on November 11 is commonly regarded as the island’s de facto “national” day and last year’s edition cost the Department of Culture approximately 105,000 Caribbean guilders, with related payments to locally owned businesses only now being processed.
ECYS Minister Melissa Gumbs is right in saying that national pride should not depend solely on government-organised ceremonies. As current President of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams once stated, just because Flag Day is not a day off doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be taken seriously.
The example of local communities with roots abroad marking their own flag days locally is well-taken. It’s not the respective foreign governments planning these, but residents from those countries organise and finance the celebrations themselves because they take ownership of their culture.
All good and well, but the flagpole on Cole Bay Hill frequented by hundreds of visitors on a daily basis still sits there empty month after month, year after year. Talk about patriotism.
