Why 1803 Still Lives In Us

Haiti declared independence on the first of January, 1804. So why does our crest say 1803?

Because 1803 is the year the outcome was decided. On the eighteenth of November, 1803, the Haitian army won the Battle of Vertieres, the last major battle of the revolution. After Vertieres, independence was no longer a hope being argued for. It was a fact waiting for a date.

1803 is also the year the flag was born in spirit, the blue and the red carried by people who had decided there was no going back.

We use 1803 because we are interested in the decision more than the ceremony. The declaration was the announcement. The year before it was the proof.