Name Ghana Flag 'The Banner of Hope' - Patroit

By Allia Noshie

A patriot, John B. K Amoah, has advocated for the Ghana flag to be named, "The Banner of Hope", saying "it perfectly describes who we are as a country".

He said the new name would reflect the nation's aspirations, and serve as a source of inspiration to Ghanaians in working towards the country's development.

On January 3, last year, he appealed to the government through a letter to name the flag, but the proposal was yet to come to fruition.

Additionally, Mr Amoah proposed translations of the National Anthem and Pledge into some local languages.

According to him, "we can't be singing our anthem in English and say we are free from oppressor's rule," adding that "we have lost our spirit as a people".

He explained that, the level of indiscipline in the country was because many Ghanaians do not understand the anthem, and said citizens would develop love and pride for the country, if they were to sing it in Ghanaian languages.

"Most of our people in the rural areas sing the anthem any how because they don't even understand what they are singing," he said, and added that "the elite who claim to speak English don't even sing. It should be in our mother tongue."

So far, he said, with the help of the Bureau of Ghana Languages, the anthem has been translated into 11 different local languages, comprising Akuapim Twi, Asante Twi, Dagaare, Dagbani, Dangme, Ewe, Gonja, Kasem, Mfante and Nzema,

The translated pieces, he said, have been documented in a book which was now in the custody of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and the Ministry of Education (MOE).

As a matter of urgency, he urged the ministry and the NCCE to ensure that the book was published and used as a teaching material, and practiced in schools across the country.

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