Marcus Garvey’s Pan-African Flag

2017

African Americans redesign the American flag into new symbols.

“Marcus Garvey designed the African American [Pan-African] flag, which looked like the Italian flag, except that it is red, black, and green. But it is so abstract, so pure, that the masses were frightened by it.” —David Hammons

African Americans have long reimagined the American flag. Marcus Garvey famously redesigned the flag with three symbolic colors: red for the blood of Black people, black for their skin color and racial identity, and green for the verdant lands of Africa. This episode of NPR’s Code Switch podcast discusses the role of flags in Black life.