Juneteenth (also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Liberation Day and Emancipation Day) celebrates the official proclamation of that freedom by Major General Gordon Granger on June 19, 1865. Black Texans first celebrated the anniversary in 1866, and as the descendants of formerly enslaved Texans spread across the U.S. in the years that followed, they brought the tradition with them. The holiday was first officially recognized by the state of Wisconsin in 2009., Half-Staff Alerts, 12615 W. Custer Ave., Butler, WI 53007, 262-783-4800, The Juneteenth flag was created in 1997 by Ben Haith, founder of the National Juneteenth Celebration Foundation, and revised in 2000 and 2007 to become the flag that is displayed around the country today. The flag depicts a star surrounded by a nova in the red, white and blue of the American flag, representing a new beginning and the true .