The Juneteenth flag is full of symbols. Here's what they mean

Editor's Note: A version of this story was initially published in June 2020.

On this holiday you might see another red, white and blue flag flying over state capitols and city buildings.

That banner with a bursting star in the middle is the Juneteenth Flag, a symbolic representation of the end of slavery in the United States.

The flag is the brainchild of activist Ben Haith, founder of the National Juneteenth Celebration Foundation (NJCF). Haith created the flag in 1997 with the help of collaborators, and Boston-based illustrator Lisa Jeanne Graf brought their vision to life.

The flag was revised in 2000 into the version we know today, according to the National Juneteenth Observation Foundation. Seven years later, the date "June 19, 1865" was added, commemorating the day that Union Army Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas, and told enslaved African Americans of their emancipation.

For more than two decades, communities around the country have held flag-raising ceremonies on Juneteenth in celebration of their freedom.

"This country has so many aspects to it that are spiritual, and I believe this flag is of that nature," Haith said. "It (the idea for the design) just came through me."