This painting depicts the key stages in the creation of the Haitian flag. It begins with General-in-Chief Jean-Jacques Dessalines tearing the white band from the French tricolor, symbolizing the break from colonial rule. He later replaced the blue with black while keeping the vertical layout. Finally, General Alexandre Pétion restored the colors to their current form—blue above red in a horizontal arrangement—adding a white square with the coat of arms at the center and the motto “L’union fait la force” (“Unity Makes Strength”).

Beyond illustrating the flag’s evolution, the painting reinterprets its symbols through Haitian culture and history. The Phrygian cap is replaced with a peasant’s straw hat, while drums, bamboo vaksin, machetes, and conch shells substitute French instruments as tools of communication and resistance. Spiritual elements such as the Ason and candlelight evoke the enslaved people’s inner strength. The motto is replaced by chain links marked with pivotal dates—1504 (the beginning of the slave trade), 1804 (independence and freedom), 1904 (renewed oppression through internal conflict and foreign interference), and 2004 (the persistence of modern economic bondage).