By: Wadner Pierre - HaitiAnalysis.com

Friday May 18, 2007 marked the 204th birthday of the Haitian flag. Activities were organized by the Haitian government and its citizens. In a break with tradition, the Prime Minister, rather than the President, was the first to visit the city Arcahaie where the flag was created.

The president attended a traditional mass given by the archbishop Serge Miot Joseph in the cathedral of Port-au-Prince.

Later in the day large crowds gathered around the National Palace to hear the President's speech. Uniformed flag carriers marched before the palace as groups of children played nearby. Some of the children imagined themselves as Haiti's early leaders, Toussaint louverture and Jean-Jacques Dessalines.

President Rene Garcia Préval declared in his address to the nation that his priority over the next year would be to fight corruption:

”I declare this year, the year of the fight against the corruption within the police, the judges, the customs offices, the employees of the DGI (Directorate-General of the Taxes), those who do not want to pay their taxes. The battle against corruption is the battle for progress and the advancement of the country”.

The plan is widely supported, as corruption has long afflicted both public and private sectors. However, partisans of Fanmi Lavalas in attendance questioned why President Préval did not set a date for the return of former elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who lives in exile in South Africa since his forced departure. The Fanmi Lavalas movement is thought to be widely responsible for the successful election of Preval.

The slogan chosen by the government to celebrate the 204th birthday of the flag is "Nou any fe yonn". Near the national palace a large ten-sided star was used to symbolize the ten provincial departments of Haiti.