MONROVIA – Liberia’s environmental chief has turned a Flag Day tribute into a pointed lesson on civic duty and accountability. His message marks the 179th National Flag Day. In it, Dr. Emmanuel King Urey Yarkpawolo argues that honoring the flag means far more than saluting cloth. He recasts the national pledge as a binding promise, tested in everyday conduct rather than in ceremony. The street sweeper, the honest teacher, and the incorruptible officer, he writes, all honor the flag. So too, he insists, must the judge, the minister, and the President, none exempt from its demands. His deeper charge is that liberty and justice ring hollow while any Liberian is denied them, as THE ANALYST reports.
Dr. Emmanuel King Urey Yarkpawolo, Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), issued the message as Liberia marked its 179th National Flag Day. He argued that the national flag is far more than a piece of cloth raised above public buildings, schools, homes, and institutions.
The flag, Yarkpawolo said, is a visible symbol of the country’s shared identity, history, struggles, sacrifices, values, and hopes. Its single white star, he added, reminds Liberians that they belong to one Republic despite differences of county, ethnicity, religion, party, and social standing.
Pledge As Solemn Promise
Yarkpawolo recalled the national pledge in full: “I pledge allegiance to the flag of Liberia and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Those words, he insisted, are not empty phrases to be recited and forgotten.
A pledge is a solemn promise, he said, while allegiance is loyalty demonstrated through conduct. Pledging allegiance, he argued, means loyalty not merely to a symbol but to Liberia, its people, its Constitution, and the Republic the flag represents.
That loyalty, he continued, carries a duty to protect unity, defend liberty, and uphold justice. It also demands placing the national interest above personal, political, ethnic, religious, and regional divisions.
Duty In Everyday Conduct
The pledge must be demonstrated through everyday duties, Yarkpawolo said, not through ceremony alone. The citizen who sweeps a street, disposes of waste properly, protects public property, obeys traffic rules, pays legitimate taxes, and refuses to pollute is honoring the flag, he argued.
Parents who send their children to school, teachers who teach honestly, students who study diligently, and businesspeople who deal fairly are all fulfilling their allegiance, he added. The message tied patriotism to daily behavior rather than to symbolism.
No Office Is Exempt
The same standard applies to those entrusted with greater responsibility, Yarkpawolo insisted. A police officer who protects citizens without demanding a bribe, a civil servant who reports to work on time, and a legislator who places the national interest above personal benefit all honor the flag, he said.
A judge who dispenses justice without fear or favor, and a minister or director who properly manages public resources, do the same, he continued. Even the President, he said, demonstrates allegiance by leading with integrity, protecting the Constitution, and serving all Liberians regardless of political affiliation.
Power Increases The Duty
No office is too small and no position too powerful to be exempt from the pledge, Yarkpawolo declared. From the person sweeping a community road to the President in the nation’s highest office, he said, every Liberian owes a duty to the Republic.
Leadership does not reduce that obligation but increases it, he argued. The greater the authority entrusted to a person, he said, the greater the responsibility to uphold liberty, justice, unity, and accountability.
Justice For All
Yarkpawolo said the pledge’s promise of “liberty and justice for all” must become a living national commitment. Liberty cannot be reserved for the powerful, he warned, and justice cannot be available only to those who can afford it.
If one Liberian is denied justice because of poverty, ethnicity, gender, disability, political opinion, or social status, he said, the promise represented by the flag remains incomplete.
Allegiance, he argued, requires citizens to speak against injustice, corruption, discrimination, violence, and the misuse of public authority, even when doing so is difficult.
A Call To Accountability
The EPA boss called on Liberians to hold one another accountable to the true meaning of the flag and the pledge. That accountability, he stressed, should be driven by love of country rather than by hostility or partisan politics.
Citizens must respectfully remind relatives, neighbors, coworkers, community leaders, and public officials that every decision should strengthen rather than weaken the Republic, he said.
He urged Liberians not to honor the flag with their voices while dishonoring it through their actions.
Long Live The Republic
Yarkpawolo closed by urging Liberians to demonstrate allegiance through honesty, hard work, environmental responsibility, peaceful citizenship, compassion, justice, and service. He prayed that the flag would forever unite the country as one people.
Daily conduct, he said, must prove that Liberians truly believe in one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. “Happy National Flag Day to all Liberians. Long live the Republic of Liberia,” he declared.
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