The red, white and blue represents the American flag, a reminder that slaves and their descendants were and are Americans.
June 19, 1865, represents the day that enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, became Americans under the law.
Honestly, why even create a new flag? You might as well fly the Stars and Stripes.
And then to borrow the star from the Texas state flag? That’s just as bad as Garvey saying the green represents the Irish. It was under that star that they remained enslaved after the emancipation proclamation.
The other flag you might see today is red, black, and green
Historically, the flag most commonly waved on Juneteenth is the red, black, and green Pan-African flag, according to Oprah Daily. The flag was created in 1920 to represent Africans around the world, according to NPR.
Both flags are symbols of "pride and freedom" for Black Americans, but serve different purposes. Tim Goler, research director at the Center for African American Public Policy, told USA TODAY he appreciates that the Juneteenth flag emphasizes people descended from enslaved people are Americans. But he believes "the Pan-African Flag really is the most appropriate flag for Juneteenth" because there is still deep-seated inequities in the US.