DOMINICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY February 27
DOMINICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY February 27
THE FOUNDING FATHERS
Juan Pablo Duarte
Born on January 26, 1813, in Santo Domingo’s Colonial Zone, Juan Pablo Duarte is known as the Dominican Republic’s Founding Father – as he was the founder of the secret society “La Trinitaria.” “La Trinitaria” was a group of Dominican nationalists, who successfully liberated the Dominican people from the Haitian repression in the War of Independence in 1844.
Matías Ramón Mella
Born on the 25th of February 1810, in Santo Domingo, Matías Ramón Mella was a politic who had previously received military trainings -known for being the person incharge of setting out the different strategies for battle in the secret society “La Trinitaria” and best remembered for being the one who fired the shot, event known as the “trabucazo”, on the night of the 27th of February 1844 at the “Puerta del Conde”, the official declaration of war to obtain Independence from Haitian forces.
Francisco del Rosario Sánchez
Born on the 9th of March 1817 in Santo Domingo and is remembered for being as well, one of the Founding Fathers of the Dominican Republic. He was the one in charge of representing Duarte once he had left the country in 1843, after fearing he would be imprisoned before the event. While Mella shot the “trabucazo” at the “Puerta del Conde”, Sánchez came along shouting “Dios, Patria y Libertad” (God, Homeland and Freedom) and was the person who actually raised the Dominican flag for the first time, moment in which the Dominican Republic was founded!
The Dominican flag represents our Independence, the first Dominican flag was designed and created by María Trinidad Sánchez, Sánchez’s aunt, where she included blue, representing God’s blessings over our nation, red representing our liberators’ blood and the white cross symbolizing our Independence as an inheritance from those who fought for our freedom.
COAT OF ARMS
The Dominican Flag is the only flag in the world to incorporate in its coat of arms the Holy Bible.
