Wilton Historical Society

“On June 19th, 1865, General Gordon Granger of the Union Army dispatched this order in Galveston, Texas: “The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.” This announcement came more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation-but until the surrender of General Robert E. Lee two months before, there hadn’t been Union troops in Texas to enforce it.

This month, Juneteenth-a portmanteau of “June” and “nineteenth”-celebrations will once again commemorate the end of slavery in the U.S., and some will raise the official banner: a red, white, and blue emblem that “gives all Americans the opportunity to recognize American freedom and African-American history,” according to the National Juneteenth Celebration Foundation. The flag was first hoisted in 2000 at the Roxbury Heritage State Park in Boston, Massachusetts, by the foundation’s founder Ben Haith, who also created its design.

Haith, who’s known as Boston Ben, drafted the flag’s inchoate elements in 1997 alongside a host of contributors. To reflect the celebration’s slogan-“a new freedom, a new people, a new star”-the banner included a red arc, blue background, and “a star of Texas bursting with new freedom throughout the land, over a new horizon,” says the foundation.

Then, in 2000, in preparation of that inaugural flag-raising in Boston, illustrator Lisa Jeanne Graf lent her expert eye to arrive at the flag’s current design. “As an illustrator, I fine-tuned their vision,” she reflects. Beginning in 2007, the flag would see Graf’s iteration occasionally emblazoned with the historic date “June 19th, 1865.”

Though efforts to make Juneteenth a federal holiday are ongoing, it is currently recognized by 45 states and the District of Columbia.”