There is a difference between a country and a nation. A country is a political entity made up of a government and laws. A nation, on the other hand, is a people with a common identity.

Sint Maarten is a relatively new country, having existed as an autonomous constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands since 2010. And with that newness, building a nation within the country, coming together to create a national identity, can be a challenge. It is one of the things that Melissa Gumbs, Sint Maarten’s Minister of Education, Culture, Youth, and Sport, seeks to address.

Minister Gumbs and I sit down in her office in the country’s massive governmental building to talk about what it takes to build a national identity, and how Sint Maarten’s upcoming Flag Day can help us to frame the cultural symbology of nation building. First, she recaps the history of Sint Maarten’s road to today’s political status.

Until 1954, Sint Maarten was part of the Dutch colonial Caribbean. That year, the Netherlands Antilles became an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Consisting of all six (three here in the north and three in the south) Dutch Caribbean islands, the Netherlands Antilles tried – and largely failed – to create one national identity out of six fairly distinct island identities. Aruba left that arrangement in 1986, and then in 2010, the Netherlands Antilles was dissolved altogether, and Sint Maarten (along with Curacao) became the constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands that it is today.

Oddly enough, however, Minister Gumbs tells me that Sint Maarten’s flag, the one the country will celebrate on June 13 (by the time you read this, that will have passed, but it will come again next year), predates the creation of the country by roughly 25 years! In 1985, Sint Maarten opened up flag designs to a public competition. 17 year old Roselle Richardson won the competition with her design, one that is still used today.

The flag consists of the country’s coat of arms (the Philipsburg courthouse, a brown pelican, yellow sage, and the Concordia monument above the words semper pro grediens, meaning always progressing) on a white triangle set between red and blue stripes. Red symbolizes solidarity and courage; white is for purity and faith, peace and friendliness; and blue symbolizes the environment, including the land, sea, beaches, and lakes. It also isn’t coincidence that the colors echo the Dutch flag.

But, I ask the minister, if the flag is the symbol of the country of Sint Maarten, what does it take to instead transform it into a symbol of national identity?

Shockingly to me, Minister Gumbs tells me that she believes that the best results actually come when government creates space for the community to step up and take ownership. And this year’s Flag Day celebrations are a perfect example. As she tells me, the “official” government-sponsored parade and celebration have had to be scaled back this year due to budget constraints. But when that was relayed to the local population, something amazing happened. Volunteer groups of ordinary citizens stepped in. A parade has been organized. A lecture on understanding the flag has emerged, and is open to the public. Grassroots organizations have passed around so many flags that it is rare for me to watch a busy street for more than a minute without a car passing with one flying from the window. Even the KFC – yes, the KFC – is flying Sint Maarten’s flag.

This all happened because efforts at nation building are beginning to pay off. Rather than people viewing the flag as the symbol of the government – and hence, who really cares if the parade gets canceled – they see it as theirs, as a symbol of national pride. Flag Day is, maybe for the first time, a true holiday of a nation, not just of a country. As the minister says, “It’s a great start! I plan to encourage this trend to continue, coming together with the government as a facilitator, and not as an executor.”

Of course, national identity from an internal standpoint is only one piece of the puzzle, albeit the most important piece and the one Minister Gumbs is so proud to see progress being made. But it also entails others seeing Sint Maarten as a nation, one worthy of respect. And sometimes, that can be even harder.

The largest contingent of visitors to Sint Maarten is Americans, and it isn’t especially close. But for so many, the country – and indeed just about all similar destinations, even those that are part of the US – are just collections of beaches and bars. History, culture, symbology – those core concepts of nationhood – are reduced to caricature. It isn’t to say that Sint Maarten isn’t a fun destination of beautiful beaches, tropical drinks, and great times in the sun; of course it is. But it is so much more.

Minister Gumbs would like to have us see this place the same way she wants her citizenry to. She wants us to respect the history here, the environment, the culture, the monuments, the symbols. She wants us to then leave feeling proud that we got to be a tiny part of the story of Sint Maarten. And, of course, to come back to continue to write that next chapter.

Sint Maarten also has a unique role as a country within the larger Kingdom of the Netherlands. I ask her what she wants the European Netherlands (the term she uses for the European part of the Netherlands, distinct from the Caribbean Netherlands and from the three Caribbean countries within the Kingdom) to see. She shares with me that the biggest issue is that they often don’t see Sint Maarten at all. It is rare for schools in the European Netherlands to teach about the other countries, to teach their history or their contributions.

Despite what it may seem, Minister Gumbs’ message is as optimistic as it could possibly be. While others might bemoan that things aren’t where they should be, she expresses overwhelming pride and positivity at where things are now. She points to small things, like the fact that the Sint Maarten flag is an emoji, as being emblematic of that progress. And as we talk, I have to admit that she’s right.

Before we end our conversation, we have one more item to discuss, one that involves the unique nature of this island, of which Sint Maarten is only one side, the other portion being French Saint-Martin. There has been a movement that has created an island-wide unity flag, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask the minister’s opinion on that. I expect her response to be dismissive. Once again, I am surprised at the wisdom and forethought she shows.

Minister Gumbs, of course, shares that such a unity flag isn’t official. It can’t be. While there is a totally open border, this is still a politically divided island, and for as long as that is the case you cannot have a flag representing both in a purely legal sense. But she acknowledges the shared history and culture, and the fact that for most people on the island, family and friends – and their lives as a whole – exist on both sides. So for her, there is a cultural – not political – value in an expression of that commonality.

What does it mean to be a nation, and not just a country? It means pride, it means community, it means taking it upon oneself to make a contribution rather than simply leaving that responsibility to the government. After spending an hour with Minister Melissa Gumbs, I am confident that Sint Maarten is well on its way to making that leap. And one needs only to look around on these days leading up to Sint Maarten’s Flag Day to see that her optimism is well-placed.

I want to share a huge thank you to Minister Melissa Gumbs and her staff for meeting with me, for sharing so openly, and for showing so much patience during the interview. I am grateful for the willingness to sit down with me, and for the warmth with which they approached the process.

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