Forty-five foot flag will be hoisted at Memorial Park
The flag raising ceremony is a traditional and symbolic act on every Independence Eve since 1981 when Belize became a free and independent nation. And this year, another flag will be hoisted on the eve of September tenth and if you trafficked near mile three on the Northern Highway the day after the General Elections, and again near the Belcan Roundabout when Belize played the first FIFA football game against Mexico, then you sighted the gigantic Belizean flag waving majestically, high atop an industrial crane. The forty-five by thirty-foot national symbol, the biggest flag yet for Belize, was the brainchild of Roger Espejo, who with family, friends, and a whole lot of investment, put together the flag in three days back in February. Well, the flag will be unfurled tonight at the Memorial Park.
Roger Espejo, Manufactured Gigantic Belizean flag
“We got the idea earlier in February of this year when they had the elections around. We wanted to make a statement after the elections that regardless of anything Belizeans must come together and we also had it in mind for September. It had a double purpose and we’re bringing it out again. The size of the flag is representative of the pride that we want to foster amongst ourselves as Belizeans. We are going to hoist the flag tonight in the vicinity of the Memorial Park by the sea. The September Celebrations Committee has asked us and we have obtained a crane to hold the flag. Because of the size of the flag, there isn’t any flag pole that can actually hold the flag up so for the time being we have to use a large industrial crane. So were tonight we’re going to be hoisting it up and we’ll have it up there for the tenth and also for the twenty-first.”
Espejo says his wish is to have the flag permanently displayed at the entrance to Belize City but that would entail that a flag pole be built to accommodate its weight. Espejo and his team used up two hundred and seventy yards of cloth and ten gallons of paint, an investment of around three thousand five hundred dollars, labour not considered. Espejo and his friends painted the Sub Umbra Floreo.
