Flag of Haiti

What the flag means

• 🔵Blue and red — the union of Black and mixed-race Haitians
• 🌴Coat of arms: a palm with a liberty cap and the motto 'L'Union Fait La Force' (Unity is strength)

Design set by: ⁨Constitution de la République d'Haïti (1987), Article 3⁩ · Adopted 1987

Highlights

• 🏰 Mighty Citadelle Laferrière
• 🎨 Bold, colorful Haitian art
• 🥁 Lively kompa music and dance
• 🏖️ Blue Caribbean beaches
• 💪 First free Black republic

Quick facts

Region

Americas · Caribbean

Population

11,906,095 people (2025)

Area

27,750 km²

Capital

Port-au-Prince

Languages

Haitian Creole, French

Currency

Haitian gourde (HTG)

Organizations

United Nations

Neighboring countries

• Dominican Republic

Land neighbors, approximated from simplified map outlines.

Symbols in History (1)

Coats of arms and emblems whose historic seat lies within this country’s present-day territory.

• 

  Arms of the First Empire of Haiti

  Haiti, Caribbean · National coat of arms

  OriginThe Haitian Revolution ended slavery in the French colony that became Haiti and won independence from France in 1804. Later that same year Jean-Jacques Dessalines was proclaimed Emperor Jacques I, and the First Empire of Haiti lasted until 1806. These arms belong to that short-lived empire; the drawing shown here is a modern redrawing of them.

  DescriptionA pale scroll across the top carries the watchword of the revolution, LIBERTÉ OU LA MORT — “liberty or death”. Below it two gold lions rear on their hind legs, tongues and claws picked out in red, and hold up a gold crown with a red cap, pearl-strung arches and blue and red stones. At the centre an oval frame of green leaves encloses a white field where a brown cock stands on a brown mound, its comb, wattles and legs red; in heraldry the cock speaks of vigilance and fighting spirit. The oval is carried on a small gold stand with two wheels, and the whole group rests on a gold pedestal studded with red lozenges, grey pearls and one large red oval, so that crown and lions state the new empire's sovereignty while the motto states what it was founded on.

  Image source: Wikimedia Commons — Coat of arms of the First Empire of Haiti.svg · Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0 · Samhanin