1963 — Kenya's Independence

On December 12, 1963, at midnight in Nairobi, the Union Jack came down and a new Kenyan flag climbed into the sky as the national anthem rang out for the first time over an independent nation. At the same hour, atop the snow-capped peak of Mount Kenya, another flag was raised to declare that Kenya was finally free.

Jomo Kenyatta, once jailed as the supposed ringleader of the Mau Mau uprising, became the country's first prime minister. Every December 12 since, the nation has celebrated Jamhuri Day — the biggest holiday of the year, a word that means republic. Two flags, one at midnight in the capital and one on the mountain, marked a people's long road home.