the Reverend Hugh Sherlock to the music of Hon. Robert Lightbourne, both of which were chosen out of many anonymous entries submitted in a public contest. The 300-year-old coat of arms was retained but a new motto – “Out of Many, One People”– a reminder that the nation is composed of people of many races who have long lived and worked in harmony, was added. THE OPENING OF PARLIAMENT On August 7, 1962 - which had also been declared a holiday - the first session of Jamaica’s parliament took place. Princess Margaret, wished Jamaica well on behalf of her sister, the Queen, and handed over the constitutional documents to Sir Alexander. She said she was proud to be associated with this event and welcomed the new nation to the Commonwealth Family. Bustamante, responding to Princess Margaret and addressing Jamaicans at home and abroad as the island’s first Prime Minister, cautioned on that same August 7 morning: “Independence means the opportunity for us to frame our own destiny and the need for us to rely on ourselves in so doing. It does not mean a license to do as we would like. It means work and law and order. Let us resolve to build a Jamaica which will last and of which we and generations to come will be proud, remembering that especially Guests in the main stand at the National Stadium rise at midnight in salute to the Jamaica National Flag as it is raised to the top of the flagstaff during the ceremonies making Jamaica’s Independence. At right centre Princess Margaret and the Earl of Snowdon stand in the Royal Box, the Princess with eyes raised to the flag. GLEANER PHOTOGRAPHER Students from Herbert Morrison Technical High dance the Maypole at the Independence Mello-Go-Round held on August 5, 2024 at the National Indoor Sports Center. PHOTO BY ANTOINE LODGE at this time the eyes of the world are upon us.” Bustamante’s message was also carried in a special supplement in the New York Times commemorating Jamaica’s independence. Norman Manley, then Leader of the Opposition, also reminded the nation: “We stand here today surrounded by an unseen host of witnesses, who through all our history strove to keep alight the torch of freedom–and what of the future. We have come to Independence prepared and ready to shoulder our new responsibilities and united I believe in one single hope that we may make our small country a safe and happy home for all our people.” The themes of both of these addresses and those of many others given that day and on countless anniversaries can aptly be summed up in the words of our National Anthem – described by Sherlock and Bennett (1998) as “a prayer of a small, newly-independent nation for guidance and protection for themselves and for the island they love.” - Rebecca Tortello BIRTH Continued from, P4 THE WEEKLY GLEANER | JULY 24 - AUGUSt 24, 2025 | www.jamaica-gleaner.com | INDEPENDENCE FEATURE
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