A Flag Calling for Change: International Woman’s Day

Every year on March 8th, the world celebrates International Women’s Day. It traces its roots back to 1908, when over 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter working hours, better pay, and voting rights. Today, March 8th is recognised globally as a day to honour the achievements of women and advocate for gender equality.

For this occasion, we’re going to take a closer look into an art piece, a Greek flag, that was crafted by New York-based artist, Georgia Lale. This flag represents the concerns of domestic violence, and femicides in Greece but also all around the world..

The flag was created by bedsheets, donated by women from Greece. In fact, as she mentions on her website (https://lalegeorgia.net), “Both artworks are made out of bed sheets donated by women that live in Greece, under the condition that they have used them to rest their bodies on them and dream of a world where women will not be afraid to chase their dreams and stand up for their rights.” The bedsheets themselves point out to the fact that most of these crimes against women, usually happen within their own homes.

The flag art was part of the Carte Blanche Project, an exhibition with Georgia Lale’s work called “Neighborhood Guilt”, at the General Consulate of Greece in New York. Apart from the flag, a quilt, also made by bedsheets was crafted by the artist, both of which were on display. 

On Dec 16th 2023, a day after the exhibition’s opening it, the flag became subject to a political debate in Greece, with a number of parties demanding its removal from the Consulate. A few days later it was censored and was removed from the exhibition. Despite going through political controversies, the flag is all about raising awareness on a global issue.

Women in Vexillology

Before we wrap up this post, as a flag page, we’d like to honour this day by celebrating the women who contributed to the creation of national flags. Here are a few:

Susan Karike: Papua New Guinea. At just 15 years of age for a school project she designed Papua New Guinea’s national flag.

Committee of 7 Women: Liberia. The "Liberia Committee of 7 Women" was a group of seven women who crafted the Liberian flag by designing and hand-stitching it before the nation's independence. Led by committee chair Susannah Elizabeth Lewis, the group also included Matilda Newport, Rachel Johnson, Mary Hunter, Sarah McGill Russwurm, Colonette Teage Ellis, and Sara Draper.

Surayya Tyabji: India. Surayya Tyabji was an Indian artist who contributed to the design of India's national flag by replacing the Charkha with the Ashoka Chakra. Her daughter, Laila Tyabji, stated in 2018 that both Surayya and her husband were commissioned by Nehru to refine this design originally created by Pingali Venkayya.

Pacífica Fernández Oreamuno: Costa Rica. The First Lady, Pacífica Fernández Oreamuno, designed the flag of Costa Rica in 1848. The flag was designed after the ideals of the French Revolution - freedom, equality, and brotherhood - and the colors of the French National Flag

Theodosia Salome Okoh: Ghana. Designed Ghana's national flag in 1957. The Ghanaian artist and teacher won a government competition to create a new flag that would represent the end of British rule. 

Of course these names are only a few out of many women that contributed in national flag creation. At the same time, numerous state, regional, and city flags were also inspired by women, a reminder of their impact in shaping nations, both through symbolism and action.

Happy International Women’s Day!