And the five-colour flag of the new nation of Guyana went up eagerly and with an exultant flutter.
And it took up with it into the crucial unknown of the imponderable future the hopes and aspirations of a young nation.

--The GUYANA GRAPHIC, Thursday, May 26, 1966
THESE were the opening lines of a profoundly eloquent Page one comment that committed to history the moment 36 years ago that the colonial possession called British Guiana was transformed into Guyana-a word meaning “Land of Many Waters’ in the rich culture of the nation’s Pre-Columbian peoples. Witnessing this moment with reverence were some 50,000 persons assembled at the Queen Elizabeth Park, which was later renamed the National Park. The Golden Arrowhead was hoisted by a brilliant young Guyana Defence Force Officer, Lieutenant Desmond Roberts.

Middle-aged Guyanese, who were present at that symbolic birth of this nation, would recall the collective sense of patriotism that filled their breasts with pride. It was the moment of birth for the Guyanese nation, and in the heady sweetness of nationalistic fervor, all citizens forgot the divisive acrimony, the preceding bitter years of civil strife, and for that glorious occasion joined hearts and hands in unity, and committed themselves to the task of nation building. There followed banquets and formal dances, colourful pageants, cocktail receptions, Press parties of a quality never seen again, steelband tramps through the streets, water sports, and special dramatic presentations. However, despite all this gaiety and merry-making, those conscious citizens realised that while the future promised an efflorescence of creative works from the Guyanese imagination and innovative responses to issues and problems affecting the society, the road ahead was as uncertain as it was untried.

Little did those patriotic Guyanese realise on that glittering dawning of May 26, 1966, just how rocky and treacherous a road they would have to traverse, or how many years of economic sacrifice they would have to endure in the next few decades. In that magical moment, Forbes Burnham, who was Prime Minister and Dr Cheddi Jagan, the fiery nationalist, who in the mid-1940s ignited among citizens the first flames of the Independence struggle, paused in their private battle to share an emotional embrace. “Formality was forgotten,” the GUYANA GRAPHIC recalls, “when Cheddi and Forbes embraced each other at the flag-raising ceremony.”

Some 60 delegations arrived on these shores to participate in the celebrations of the new nation and to have discourses with the government. Among them was an 11-man party specially selected by United States President Lyndon B. Johnson. And Conservative Colonial Secretary Mr Duncan Sandys and his wife were also among the special guests attending the celebrations at the birth of this nation. Sandys, who had visited this country in the immediate aftermath of the 1960s disturbances, could be remembered for his efforts at persuading formerly warring African and Indian Guyanese to shake hands in friendship.

Reminiscing on the coming into being of the Guyanese nation from the perspective of 36 years is a little like looking at this country’s history from the other end of a telescope. To some old-timers, it would appear as if the struggle for nationhood never achieved its goal and that the Guyanese society is hopelessly cleaved along ethnic and political fault lines. To others, the long years of tribulation interspersed with moments of significant victories, are all part of the weft and warp of weaving a strong and durable fabric of nationhood.