Rihanna honored as national hero as Barbados becomes world's newest republic

Rihanna

The Caribbean islands nations, Barbados, has become the world's newest republic severing its colonial bonds with Britain nearly 400 years after the first English ships arrived there. One of its first acts as a republic was to declare superstar Rihanna a national hero.

The Royal Standard was lowered over Barbados and it became a republic. Some of this country's most well-known names were among the VIP guests attending the transition ceremony. 

Rihanna said of all awards she's received nothing compared to being recognized by her home country. "The people y'all are the true heroes of Barbados and I take y'all with me whereever I go. I'm so prod to be a Bajan."

Rihanna has held the honorary title of Ambassador for Culture and Youth in Barbados since 2018. And although not a stat holiday, Rihanna Day is celebrated by many on the island every year on February 22nd.

Celebrations marked a new future as the Caribbean nation severed ties with Queen Elizabeth. At the stroke of midnight President Dame Sandra Mason replaced Queen Elizabeth as head of state. Bells rang out in the capital Bridgetown signaling the transition. 

Heir to the British throne, Prince Charles, were also there to watch it all play out. Prince Charles was invited to see his mother removed as a head of state, the first time that has happened anywhere in 30 years. 

Prince Charles, acknowledge Britain's role in the slave trade. 

"From the darkest days of our past and the appalling atrocity of slavery which forever stains our history. The people of this island forge their path with extraordinary fortitude. Emancipation, self-government, and independence where your waypoints. Freedom, justice, and self-determination have been your guides."

An acknowledgement of the past as this Island looked forward and swore in its first ever President. But it wasn't a formal apology or the reparations activists have been calling for. 

This constitutional shift in Barbados is about asserting self-confidence and shedding the links to its colonial past. 

Casting aside the official link to the British monarchy, Barbados is increasingly looking east to China for financial support. 

The republican movement in some Caribbean countries has intensified amid the black lives matter movement sweeping the globe. Jamaica is also considering abandoning the Queen as Head of State. It announced in July that it planned to ask Britain for compensation for slavery.