The Nationalist Youth of Lanzarote and La Graciosa (JNL) paid tribute this Tuesday to the tricolor flag with the eight green stars on the occasion of the celebration, this Wednesday, October 22, of the Day of the Canarian National Flag in a meeting that was attended by organizational officials and public representatives of Coalición Canaria (CC), held at the top of the Guanapay Volcano, in the municipality of Teguise.
The event consisted of three parts. The first consisted of painting the eight green stars on a tricolor flag drawn on a foam board. Next, a large Canary national flag was unfurled on a mast installed next to the Castle of Santa Barbara. And finally, the newly elected new secretary general of the Nationalist Youth, Joel Arbelo, proceeded to read the Manifesto for the Identity and Unity of the Canarian People, prepared by the JNL.
Emblem of unity
"The white, blue, and yellow tricolor waves as an emblem of unity and hope, as a reflection of the eight territories that form a single Canarian heart, diverse but inseparable. The eight green stars that accompany it not only represent our islands, but also those who, from any corner of the world, continue to feel the Canary Islands in their soul," Arbelo said during the reading of the Manifesto, which at its beginning also highlights the "pride" of raising "the Canarian nationalist flag, a living symbol of our history, our culture, and the will of a people who have never stopped looking towards the future with dignity."
"Today we don't raise a flag against anyone, but in favor of what we are: a people with deep roots and an identity that has been able to resist the passage of time, distance, and the waves. An identity made of language, music, accent, history, memory, struggle, and love for the land," the secretary-general of the JNL continued reading.
Build Bridges
"Defending our culture is defending dignity. Defending our identity is defending the right of each generation to recognize itself in what it was and in what it can become. And defending our unity is building bridges between islands, neighborhoods, generations, and Canarian hearts, wherever they may be," added Joel Arbelo.
The reading of the Manifesto concludes with a message of collective commitment contained in the writing: “May this flag—the flag of all Canarians who love their land—wave high as a symbol of respect, coexistence, and pride. May its movement in the wind be a song of affirmation: we are Canarian, we are people, we are living culture.”
