African-American Flag Explained

Untitled (African American Flag)
Artist:	David Hammons
Medium:	Fabric
Movement:	Contemporary art
Height Metric:	142.2
Width Metric:	223.5
Metric Unit:	cm
Imperial Unit:	in
Museum:	The Broad, Jack Shainman Gallery, Museum of Modern Art, National Museum of African American History and Culture, The New School, Studio Museum in Harlem

Untitled (African-American Flag) is a vexillographic artwork by American artist David Hammons from 1990, combining the colors of the Pan-African flag with the pattern of the flag of the United States to represent African diaspora identity. The flag replaces the red, white and blue colors on the traditional American flags with Pan-African colors.^[1]

It was first created for the art exhibition "Black USA" at an Amsterdam museum in 1990, and its first edition was of five flags, which are now in major museum collections.^[2]

The work's creation has been seen in the context of the inauguration of David Dinkins as the first African American mayor of New York City, following his 1989 election.^[3] The following year Hammons was awarded the MacArthur Genius Fellowship for his "contributions to African American cultural identity".^[4]

Collections and galleries

The original series was of five flags, these are sometimes known as the 'Amsterdam flags'. The original series was followed by another series of ten.

The original series flags include the versions in the collections of:

• Museum of Modern Art, New York, (two versions, one shared with the Studio Museum in Harlem)^[5]
• The Broad, Los Angeles^[6]
• National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC^[7]
• The Collection Over Holland

The work is also in following collections but it is unclear when they were created:

• Jack Shainman Gallery^[8]
• The New School, New York
• Pizzuti collection, Columbus, Ohio

Display and symbolism

Since 2004 the Studio Museum Harlem has flown its version of the artwork above its entrance in Harlem, New York.^[9]

Replicas of Hammon's flag are frequently flown social justice protests and demonstrations.^[10]

See also

• Ethnic flag

Notes and References

1. Web site: African-American Flag.
2. Web site: Valentine . Victoria . 30 May 2017 . Mixed Media: $2 Million Flag by David Hammons is a Work of Art, Political Statement, and Art World Commodity . 2019-10-02 . en-US.
3. News: Stars and stripes? Whatever: six times artists subverted the American flag. Whyte. Murray. 2016-12-02. The Guardian. 2019-10-08. en-GB. 0261-3077.
4. Web site: Catalogue Essay - David Hammons - 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale New York Wednesday, May 17, 2017 . 2022-07-28 . . en.
5. Web site: David Hammons. African American Flag. 1990 MoMA . 2019-10-02 . The Museum of Modern Art . en.
6. Web site: African-American Flag - David Hammons The Broad . 2019-10-02 . www.thebroad.org.
7. Web site: African-American Flag . 4 June 2022 . Smithsonian.
8. Web site: A Look at Nick Cave's Stunningly Colorful Show at Jack Shainman's New School. 2014-05-19. Hyperallergic. en-US. 2019-10-02.
9. Tomkins . Calvin . 9 December 2019 . David Hammons Follows His Own Rules . 2022-07-28 . . en-US.
10. Web site: Robinson . Shantay . 14 July 2022 . How a Celebrated Artist Redesigned the Stars and Stripes to Mark His Pride in Black America . 2022-07-28 . . en.