It was 1962. Minutes before midnight at the Jamaican National Stadium, 20,000 Jamaicans and luminaries from around the world gathered around the flagpole watching the British Union Jack bellow in the wind. In attendance were Princess Margaret, representing her sister Queen Elizabeth II, US Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, and Jamaican National heroes Alexander Bustamante and Norman Washington — cousins, political rivals, and that day importantly, co-architects of Jamaica’s independence.
The mood was revelrous. Champagne flowed and handshakes were exchanged. Promises of support and solidarity were exchanged between leaders. Princess Margaret assured soon to be first prime minister Bustamante that there were no hard feelings. Bustamante was the life of the party. The Jamaica Labour Party leader played the banjo to an enthusiastic crowd and danced the twist.
Why Black, Green, and Gold
A Jamaica Defense Force (JDF) officer held the new flag in his hand, ready for the exchange. Its striking black, green, and gold was as unique then as it is now. The Jamaican national flag is only one of two (the other is African country Mauritania) in the entire world that do not feature the colours, white, blue, or red. The flag was a collaborative design by a bipartisan committee to capture the essence of the people and the beauty of the country — ‘The sun shineth; the land is green; and the people are strong and creative.’
Green represents bountiful agriculture and the hope of the people. Black stands for the hardships faced to get to this point. Gold signifies the natural wealth and sunshine that’s come to define the nation.
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Getting it done by the Skin of the Teeth
The sunsetting of the Union Jack and its replacement was a dramatic show. As the clock struck midnight the lights went off. In the pitch black darkness, the Union Jack was lowered and when the lights flooded back on, the Jamaican flag bellowed in its place.
It was a good show, the perfect final note in the celebration. Behind the scenes, it was a nerve wracking experience. British Warrant Officer Tony Head, the man who lowered the Union Jack in 1962, spoke with the Jamaica Gleaner in 2012. “I was perturbed to see that the Jamaican warrant officer was struggling to untie the knot in his halyard (the rope which raises the flag),” Head recalled.
There were heavy rain storms earlier that day and the ropes had swollen, tightening the knots on the flag. In the pitch black, Head peered over at his Jamaican counterpart only to see him desperately tugging at the knot and ultimately biting at it, desperate to get it loose. By the time the lights were on, the Jamaican flag was at the summit and none was the wiser.
On August 6, 1962 Jamaica became an independent nation, the first new nation in the hemisphere since Panama gained its freedom 59 years earlier.
