The Cuban flag with the colours the other way round: born in 1895 as a symbol of independence and for years forbidden on the island.
Every fact about the flag, each with what it means.
Normal flagFIAV symbol: the form of the flag.
CivilFIAV symbol: who may fly the flag.YesIt carries the coat of arms on the cloth.The flag in the words of vexillology and heraldry.
It is a rectangular field with a 2:3 ratio with five equal horizontal stripes —a stripe is a band of colour— alternating red and white; the top one is red. Next to the flagpole, the pole it hangs from, there is a blue triangle with a white five-pointed star in the centre.
Each element and how many of the 1,390 flags in the catalogue carry it. In yellow, the rarest.
Every date in its story, at a glance.
In 1868 the Puerto Ricans had already had their first flag
On 22 December 1895 the Puerto Rican committee of the Cuban Revolutionary Party met in Manhattan…
How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.
The flag of Puerto Rico has five horizontal stripes, red and white, and a blue triangle next to the flagpole with a white star. Because of that single star they call it ‘la Monoestrellada’. If it rings a bell, that is normal: it is the flag of Cuba with the colours swapped.
In the 19th century Cuba and Puerto Rico were the last colonies of Spain in America. Many independence supporters of the two islands lived exiled in New York and fought together. In 1868 the Puerto Ricans had already had their first flag, that of the Cry of Lares, an uprising against Spain that lasted very briefly.
On 22 December 1895 the Puerto Rican committee of the Cuban Revolutionary Party met in Manhattan and approved a new flag: the Cuban one, but with the blue triangle and red stripes. It was a way of saying that the two islands shared the same struggle. Nobody knows for certain who proposed it. The most cited candidates are Francisco Gonzalo Marín and Antonio Vélez Alvarado.
The drawing has not changed since 1895, but the blue of the triangle has, because no law has ever said what tone it should be.
1868
The flag of the Cry of Lares, woven by Mariana Bracetti. It mixes the cross of the Dominican flag and the star of the Cuban one.
1895-1952
The revolutionary flag. According to accounts of the time, its blue was light, although versions in several tones were made.
1952-1995
It becomes the official flag of the island. The government uses a dark blue, like that of the United States flag.
1995
After a new regulation, an intermediate blue is imposed, which is the most usual today.
The most widespread explanation is this:
White star
the island of Puerto Rico.
Triangle
its three sides represent the three powers of government: the one that makes the laws, the one that governs and the one that judges.
Blue
the sky and the sea that surround the island.
Red
the blood of those who fought for the homeland.
White
freedom, victory and peace.
Between 1948 and 1957 the so-called Gag Law made it a crime to own or display the Puerto Rican flag, even inside your own home. It could be punished with up to ten years in prison.
Since the tone is not official, many people choose it according to their views: the light blue is associated with independence, the dark one with those who want the island to be one more state of the United States, and the intermediate one with the current situation.
According to some historians, in 1892 Antonio Vélez Alvarado caught a glimpse of the Cuban flag with the colours swapped, as if he were colour-blind, and the idea came from there. It is a debated tale, with no documents of the time to confirm it.
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Where it is and what borders it.
Test what you have read about the flag of Puerto Rico.
Text based on the article “Bandera de Puerto Rico” from the Spanish Wikipedia, published under the licence CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources consulted:
Flag image: Original: Unknown Vector: Cerejota, Wikimedia Commons · Public domain.
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