Ben Haith

Ben Haith is an activist, entrepreneur, and the creator of the Juneteenth flag, the iconic symbol that has come to represent the celebration of African American emancipation. In 1997, Haith founded the National Juneteenth Celebration Foundation and designed the flag that would become synonymous with the holiday — a visual declaration that freedom deserved its own banner.

The Juneteenth flag features a bursting star against a horizon of red, white, and blue, with an arc representing a new horizon of possibilities. The star symbolizes the Lone Star of Texas, where the last enslaved people learned of their freedom on June 19, 1865, and the burst represents new freedom and new beginnings for African Americans. Haith deliberately chose colors that echo the American flag, asserting that Black liberation is fundamentally an American story.

Haith's flag gained nationwide recognition as the Juneteenth holiday itself gained momentum. When President Biden signed Juneteenth into law as a federal holiday in 2021, Haith's flag was everywhere — at celebrations, in classrooms, on government buildings. His creation gave a visual identity to a holiday that had been celebrated in Black communities for over a century but was largely invisible to mainstream America. The flag transformed Juneteenth from a regional tradition into a nationally recognized symbol of freedom.