Dear Editor,
The front page of Stabroek News, August 28, 2024 carried an article with a photograph under the caption, “Pakaraima Games: President Irfaan Ali yesterday attended the North Pakaraima District Games 2024 at Kamana Community Ground, Region Eight. The Office of the President shows some of the teams at the ready.” The picture showed the flag of Guyana – The Golden Arrowhead and the PPP flag on display in the background. To my chagrin the PPP flag preceded over the Golden Arrowhead.
It was flying where the Golden Arrow Head should have been. Yes, it was mounted on the right side of the Golden Arrowhead. The long established protocol is that whenever the Golden Arrowhead is flying next to an individual flag it must be positioned to the right of that flag and when it is flying among other flags its rightful position is at the centre and slightly above the other flags. What happened at Kamana on the day in question is a total disrespect for one of our Symbols of Nationhood – The Golden Arrowhead.
The other Symbols of Nationhood as enshrined in the Constitution of Guyana are: The Coat of Arms; The National Anthem; The Pledge and the Constitution of Guyana. Here is what is stated in Article 7 of the Constitution of Guyana, “It is the duty of every citizen of Guyana wherever he or she may be and every person in Guyana to respect the National Flag, the Coat of Arms, the National Anthem, the National Pledge and the Constitution of Guyana and to treat them with proper solemnity on all occasions.”
Editor, please permit me to make a clarion call for us to respect our Symbols of Nationhood at all times. May God bless Guyana.
Sincerely,
Clinton Conway
Assistant Commissioner of Police
(Ret’d)
