GREAT BAY--Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Affairs Melissa Gumbs marked Flag Day 2026 with a call for the people of St. Maarten to embrace the national flag not only as a symbol of identity, but as a shared responsibility, a source of pride and a living expression of the country’s story.
In her Flag Day address, Minister Gumbs reflected on the 41 years since St. Maarten began formally recognizing the flag, noting that the day continues to hold meaning because the people understand what the symbol represents.
“For 41 years, this island has stopped, looked up and recognized the flag that belongs to us,” Minister Gumbs said. “Not because we were told to, not because it was convenient, but because something in us knows that this day matters, that this symbol means something, that we are a people with a story worth telling.”
The Minister recalled the origins of the flag in 1983, when the government invited residents to submit designs for a national flag. More than 100 designs were submitted, and the winning design was created by 17-year-old student Roselle Richardson.
“Roselle Richardson did not have a title. She had vision, and that vision became ours,” Gumbs said. “That is the first thing this flag teaches us: St. Maarten’s story is written by its people, not just its leaders, not just its institutions, but its people, all of us, including the young ones who sometimes do not yet know what they carry.”
Minister Gumbs used the address to explain the meaning of the flag’s colors and symbols. She described the red as a reflection of solidarity and courage, earned through the resilience of the people, especially after hurricanes and other challenges. She said the white represents peace and friendliness, qualities that have long defined St. Maarten’s character and its ability to make people from around the world feel at home.
She also pointed to the blue as a reminder of the sky, the sea and the natural environment that shapes the island and must be protected. At the center of the flag, she noted, are the national symbols contained in the coat of arms: the courthouse, the brown pelican, the yellow sage and the motto “Semper Progrediens,” meaning “always progressing.”
“Not sometimes progressing, not progressing when it is easy, always,” Minister Gumbs said. “That is the standard we have set for ourselves.”
A major part of the Minister’s message was directed to young people. She said the flag belongs especially to the next generation, because they will carry the story forward.
“You are the ones this flag is really for,” Gumbs said. “You are the next chapter of the story Roselle started when she was your age. When I see you represent St. Maarten in the classroom, on the stage, on the field, I see this flag in motion.”
She encouraged young people to take pride in where they come from and not allow anyone to make them feel that the island is too small to matter.
“You are not just carrying a symbol, you are adding to it,” she said. “You are telling the world what St. Maarten produces, what it grows, what it builds and who it raises. Never take that lightly.”
Minister Gumbs said St. Maarten has repeatedly shown its ability to come together when it matters, whether in cultural celebrations, athletic achievements, community moments or in the aftermath of disasters. She said Flag Day deserves that same energy and visibility.
“This is a day that asks nothing complicated of us,” she said. “It asks us to remember who we are, to say it out loud and to make it visible.”
The Minister called on residents, businesses, schools, families and community groups to display the flag across the island, on homes, cars, boats, schools and places of business. She also encouraged parents and adults to explain the history and meaning of the flag to children, including the story of Roselle Richardson and the people who built, and continue to build, St. Maarten.
“I am calling on every St. Maartener, every resident, every business owner, every school and every family to make this day louder than it has ever been,” Gumbs said. “Rally around our flag. Put the flag on your car, on your home, on your business, on your boat. Wear the colors. Tell your children what the flag means.”
She also recognized the schools, community groups and families that have already marked the day through activities and the display of flags, saying their participation reflects what St. Maarten looks like when the people decide the flag belongs to all of them.
“Forty-one years is not just a number, it is a foundation,” Minister Gumbs said. “What we build on that foundation, the traditions we grow, the pride we pass on, the culture we refuse to let fail, that is up to us.”
Minister Gumbs closed her address by repeating the theme of the day and encouraging the public to take ownership of the national celebration.
“Happy Flag Day, St. Maarten,” she said. “Make it visible and make it yours.”
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