Flag of Puerto Rico

The flag of Puerto Rico (Bandera de Puerto Rico), officially known as the flag of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (Bandera del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico), represents Puerto Rico and its people. It consists of five equal horizontal stripes, alternating from red to white, with a blue equilateral triangle based on the hoist side bearing a large, sharp, upright, five-pointed white star in the center. The white star stands for the island, the three sides of the triangle for the three branches of the government, the blue for the sky and coastal waters, the red for the blood shed by warriors, and the white for liberty, victory, and peace. The flag is popularly known as the Monoestrellada (Monostarred), meaning having one star, a single star, or a lone star. It is in the Stars and Stripes flag family.

In September 1868, the Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico launched the Grito de Lares (Cry of Lares) revolt against Spanish rule in the island, carrying as their standard the Bandera del Grito de Lares (Grito de Lares Flag), most commonly known as the Bandera de Lares (Lares flag). Marking the establishment of a Puerto Rican national consciousness for the first time, the Lares flag is recognized as the first flag of Puerto Rico.

In December 1895, 27 years after the failed revolt in Lares, exiled members of the committee, settled in New York City and in partnership with exiled Cuban rebels, replaced the Lares flag with the current flag of Puerto Rico as the new revolutionary flag to represent a prospective independent Puerto Rico, basing it on the flag of Cuba, the standard carried by Cubans during their war of independence against Spain. The adoption of the Cuban flag with inverted colors as the new revolutionary flag of Puerto Rico symbolized the strong bonds existing between Cuban and Puerto Rican revolutionaries, and the united independence struggles of Cuba and Puerto Rico as the last two remaining territories of Spain’s once extensive American empire since 1825.

Members of the Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico identified the colors of their new flag as "red", "white", and "blue" but failed to specify any color shades. Relying on contemporaneous but secondary, oral sources, some historians have presumed that light blue was specifically adopted by the committee members, as their sources claim this was the same shade used on the Lares flag, the first revolutionary flag many of said members had rallied around in 1868. However, like with the flag of 1895, which appears in one of its oldest color depictions in the early 1900s with a medium blue, there is no written primary source account specifying the original color shade of blue used on the Lares flag, the only two surviving original renditions of which feature different shades: one uses light blue and the other dark blue.

In July 1952, after several failed attempts by the insular elected government of Puerto Rico to formalize the revolutionary flag of 1895 as the standard of island, the government adopted it as the official flag of Puerto Rico with the establishment of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, identifying its colors by law as "red", "white", and "blue" but not specifying any official color shades. However, the government began to use a dark blue matching the blue of the American flag as the de facto shade of blue.

In August 1995, the government of Puerto Rico issued a regulation regarding the use of the flag in which it identified the colors to be used as "red", "white", and "blue" but did not specify any official color shades once again. With its promulgation, the government and people began to use medium blue as the de facto shade of blue, replacing dark blue as the most used color shade. In August 2022, an amendment bill was unsuccessfully introduced in the Puerto Rican Senate which would have established the current medium blue, an azul royal (royal blue), as the official color of the flag.

To this day, the color shades of the flag of Puerto Rico have never been officially determined by law. Therefore, it is common to see the equilateral triangle of the flag with different shades of blue. Occasionally, the shade displayed is used to show preference on the issue of Puerto Rico’s political status, with light blue, presumably used by pro-independence rebels in 1868 and 1895, representing complete independence from the U.S., and sovereigntism or independence as a sovereign freely associated state with the U.S., dark blue, used by most functionaries since 1952, representing statehood or integration into the U.S. as a state, and medium blue, most commonly used by the government and people since the 1990s, representing the current intermediary status of commonwealth as an unincorporated and organized U.S. territory.

Puerto Rico's flag ranked seventh out of 72 entries in a poll regarding flags of subdivisions of Canada and the United States conducted by the North American Vexillological Association in 2001.

Discovery


The introduction of a flag in Puerto Rico can be traced back to November 19, 1493 when Christopher Columbus landed on the island's shore, and with the flag appointed to him by the Spanish Crown, claimed the island, originally known by its native Taíno people as Borikén, in the name of Spain, calling it San Juan Bautista (Saint John Baptist) in honor of prophet John the Baptist, who baptized Jesus Christ. Columbus wrote in his logbook that on 12 October 1492 that his fleet carried the royal standard of the Crown of Castile, representing the Spanish Monarchy, and La Capitana, the captain’s expeditionary ensign featuring, on a white background, a green cross in the center and an 'F' and 'Y', both green and crowned with golden, open royal crowns, for Ferdinand II of Aragon and Ysabel, the Catholic Monarchs of a unified Spain.

Colonization
Conquistadores under the command of Juan Ponce de León, the first European explorer and governor of Puerto Rico, proceeded to conquer and settle the island in 1508, displacing, enslaving, and killing the native Taíno people. They carried the royal standard of the Crown of Castile, the emblem representing the Spanish Monarchy, and the Cross of Burgundy, the military standard representing the Spanish Empire, the latter of which continues to be flown on the Spanish-built fortifications in Puerto Rico, most notably on Castillo San Felipe del Morro and Castillo San Cristóbal.

Revolutionary and Antillean origins
In 1868, Puerto Rican pro-independence leader Ramón Emeterio Betances, having gathered flag-making materials from Eduvigis Beauchamp Sterling, urged Mariana Bracetti to knit the revolutionary flag of the Grito de Lares (Cry of Lares), the standard of the first of two short-lived revolts against Spanish rule in the island, using as design the quartered flag of the First Dominican Republic, which was inspired by the Haitian and French flags, and based on the regimental flags of the Kingdom of France, and the lone star of the Cuban flag, which was inspired and based on the American flag. The fusion of the Dominican and Cuban flags to make the Puerto Rican Lares flag was aimed at promoting the union of neighboring Spanish-speaking Greater Antilles—the single-nation islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic in the two-nation island of Hispaniola—into an Antillean Confederation for the protection and preservation of their sovereignty and interests.

In 1868, during the Grito de Lares (Cry of Lares) revolt, Francisco Ramírez Medina, having been sworn in as Puerto Rico's first president by the revolutionaries, proclaimed the Lares flag as the national flag of the "Republic of Puerto Rico,” and placed it on the high altar of the San José Parish in Lares, Puerto Rico, making it the first Puerto Rican flag.

Original flags


There were several flags made for the revolt, but only two have survived to this day. The oldest known Lares flag is quartered by a centered white cross, with two bottom red rectangles and two top light blue rectangles, the left of which bears a tiled, centered, five-pointed white star. According to anthropologist Ricardo Alegría, the flag was taken from the altar of the San José Parish of Lares by Spanish Captain José de Perignat, who kept it until his family donated it to Fordham University in New York City. In 1954, the university then gifted the flag to the Museum of History, Anthropology and Art of the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, then headed by Alegría, and in 1988, it was restored by the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C.

Since the early 20th century, some historians have questioned the authenticity of the flag, as there is no documentary evidence to validate that it was used in the revolt or that it was placed on the altar of the San José Parish in Lares, Puerto Rico. It has been speculated that this flag is not an original Lares flag, but a copy made in the 1930s by nationalists for their commemoration of the Grito de Lares (Cry of Lares) revolt. Yet at the same time, other historians claim that, despite the absence of primary sources to validate the flag, there is a long oral tradition of testimonies that authenticate it.



The recently discovered Lares flag is quartered by a centered white cross, with two red squares on the fly side and two dark blue squares on the hoist side, the top of which bears a tiled, centered, five-pointed white star. According to the Archivo Digital Nacional de Puerto Rico (ADNPR) (National Digital Archive of Puerto Rico), the flag, considered to be La Coronela (military flag), the most important flag that was used by the first company commanded by the colonel of the armies, was captured in 1868 by Spanish Captain Manuel Iturriaga, who led the repression of the revolutionaries of Lares, in the Piedra Gorda neighborhood of Camuy, Puerto Rico after it was discovered on the farm of a revolutionary buried in one of two wooden boxes alongside hundreds of cartridges for militia rifles. After Iturriaga’s death, the flag was donated by his son to the Museo de Artillería de España (Museum of Artillery of Spain). Since its discovery in 2022, the flag is exhibited at the Museo Del Ejército (Museum of the Army) in Toledo, Spain.

In 1872, the flag was mentioned in Historia de la insurrección de Lares… (History of the insurrection of Lares…), a chronicle on the Grito de Lares (Cry of Lares) written by Spanish telegrapher and journalist José Manuel Pérez Moris, a contemporary who had migrated to Puerto Rico from Cuba in 1869. Categorizing the flag as “la verdadera bandera de Lares” (“the real flag of Lares”), the Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Puerto Rico y el Caribe (CEAPRC) (Center of Advanced Studies of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean), claims that primary sources like Pérez Moris’ account of the revolt prove that this flag is the authentic one created by the revolutionary forces of the “Republic of Puerto Rico” that was to be born from the Grito de Lares (Cry of Lares) revolt in 1868.

Provincial


In 1873, following the abdication of Amadeo I of Spain, and the overthrow of Monarchy for a Republic, the Spanish government issued a new flag for Puerto Rico. The provincial flag resembled the quartered Lares flag, with the difference that it featured the Spanish colors: all four squares in red, and the cross in yellow with the coat of arms of Puerto Rico in its center. The flags of Spain once more flew over Puerto Rico with the restoration of the Spanish kingdom in 1874, until 1898, the year that the island became a possession of the United States under the terms of the Treaty of Paris (1898) in the aftermath of the Spanish–American War.

Military


Spanish-Puerto Ricans carried the war flag of the 3rd Battalion of Puerto Rico in the island, but most commonly in Cuba during the Cuban War of Independence against Spain between 1895 and 1898. The flag is in the shape and colors of the Spanish flag, with two equal red stripes on either side and a larger yellow stripe in the center, which contains the coat of arms of Spain with the text BATALLON PROVISIONAL DE PUERTO RICO N° 3 (PROVISIONAL BATTALION OF PUERTO RICO No. 3) around it. Puerto Rico and Cuba became possessions of the United States as a result of the Spanish-American War of 1898, thus ending more than 400 years of Spanish rule on both islands.

Cuban and Puerto Rican solidarity
In December 1895, Juan de Mata Terreforte and other exiled Puerto Rican revolutionaries, many of them veterans of the Grito de Lares (Cry of Lares) revolt who fought alongside commander Manuel Rojas Luzardo, re-established the Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico under the name Sección Puerto Rico del Partido Revolucionario Cubano (Puerto Rico Section of the Cuban Revolutionary Party) as part of the Cuban Revolutionary Party in New York City, where they continued to advocate for Puerto Rican independence from Spain with the support of Cuban national hero José Martí and other Cuban exiles, who similarly began their struggle for self-determination in 1868 when the Grito de Yara (Cry of Yara) revolt triggered the Ten Years' War (Guerra de los Diez Años) for independence against Spanish rule in Cuba, which, along with Puerto Rico, represented all that remained from Spain’s once extensive American empire since 1825.

Revolutionaries from Cuba and Puerto Rico not only shared their exile in camaraderie and solidarity, but they also honorably fought and died together in battlefields across Cuba during the war of independence of the island, with approximately 2,000 Puerto Ricans falling in action, including Captain Francisco Gonzalo Marín Shaw. Puerto Ricans also made strategic contributions in battles led by Generals Juan Ríus Rivera and José Semidei Rodríguez, Colonels Juan Ortíz Quiñones and Epifanio Rivera, and dozens of other Puerto Rican officers and troops who served and fought in the Cuban Liberation Army.

Revolutionary adoption
Determined to affirm the absolute union of the Cuban and Puerto Rican struggle for national independence into a single, common cause, on December 22, with the knowledge and approval of their fellow Cuban revolutionaries, Terreforte, vice-president of the committee, and around fifty-eight fellow members gathered at the no longer existent Chimney Corner Hall in Manhattan, unanimously adopted the Cuban flag with colors inverted as the new revolutionary flag to represent a sovereign “Republic of Puerto Rico”, replacing the Lares flag, which had been used by revolutionaries as the flag of a prospective independent Puerto Rico since their attempt at self-determination in 1868, but was eventually rejected, as it represented a failed revolt, a sentiment strongly supported by Lola Rodríguez de Tío, Puerto Rican poet, pro-independence leader, and committee member, who spent her later life exiled in liberated Cuba.

Consecrated by the spilled blood of the thousands of Puerto Ricans who had fought and died in Cuba during the war of independence, the new flag was described by Bentances, Padre de la Patria (Father of the Homeland), as la sagrada bandera de la patria (the sacred flag of the homeland). Following not only Betances, but also national heroes Martí and Ruís Rivera, both of whom approved of the flag, pro-independence leaders from Puerto Rico, including Luis Muñoz Rivera, José De Diego, and Pedro Albizu Campos, revered the flag as a precious symbol representing the ideal of ''Patria y Libertad (Homeland and Liberty). ''



In Acta Tercera (Third Act) of Memoria de los trabajos realizados por la Sección Puerto Rico del Partido Revolucionario Cubano, 1895-1998 (Memoir of the works accomplished by the Puerto Rico Section of the Cuban Revolutionary Party, 1895-1898), a recollection on the activities of the Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico arranged by the Partido Revolucionario Cubano (Cuban Revolutionary Party), the unveiling of the new revolutionary Puerto Rican flag is described in Spanish as:

which, translated in English, reads as:



The flag is mentioned in Spanish for a second time in the same memoir under Memoria de la Sección Puerto Rico del Partido Revolucionario Cubano (Memoir of the Puerto Rico Section of the Cuban Revolutionary Party), an account written by Puerto Rican senior committee member Roberto H. Todd and endorsed by fellow member José Julio Henna, president of the committee, at the end of the functions of the Puerto Rican Revolutionary Committee in 1898:

which, translated in English, reads as:

The name of the designer of the newly created Puerto Rican flag does not appear in the chronicle.

Disputed origin
The origin of the design remains contested between exiled Puerto Rican revolutionaries Francisco Gonzalo Marín Shaw and Antonio Vélez Alvarado.

Terreforte attributes the design to Marín Shaw, a member of the Cuban Liberation Army from Puerto Rico who died fighting for independence in Cuba in 1897. In May 1923, responding to a letter from fellow committee member Domingo Collazo asking him to clarify the origin of the design adopted in New York City after reading several different versions about its origin in the Puerto Rican newspapers, Terreforte, who presented the design to members of the committee in 1895, credits the idea of a design based on the Cuban flag with colors inverted to Francisco Gonzalo Marín.

The original response of Terreforte in Spanish reads as:

which, translated in English, reads as:

For its part, La Asociación Manatieña Amigos de la Bandera (Manatieña Association Friends of the Flag) credits fellow Manatieño Vélez Alvarado for the design based on the studies of Puerto Rican archeologist and historian Ovidio Dávila, most famously presented in El Centenario de la Adopción de la Bandera de Puerto Rico (The Centenary of the Adoption of the Flag of Puerto Rico) in 1996. According to the scholar, the origin of the flag’s design traces back to June 1892 when Vélez Alvarado suffered a momentary "optical illusion... as if by a 'rare color blindness,’ in which he perceived that the red triangle of the Cuban flag had turned blue and the blue stripes red."

Inspired by this experience, Vélez Alvarado created a new flag design for Puerto Rico. A few days later, according to Dávila, Vélez Alvarado presented his new design to Cuban pro-independence leader José Martí at dinner party attended by revolutionaries, including Marín Shaw. Martí, says Dávila, gave Vélez Alvarado his approval, and "soon after" he published in his newspaper, Patria, "a chronicle in which he emotionally described" the evening. As such, the historian asserts that the flag of Puerto Rico was known to revolutionaries a couple of years before it was formally adopted in 1895.

Puerto Rican professor of history Armando Martí Carvajal has refuted Davila’s findings based on the fact that none of his sources are primary sources. Carvajal contends that Martí never actually confirmed any of the claims made by Davila, explaining that Martí did wrote on many occasions about the flag of Puerto Rico, but in these cases he was referring to the Lares flag, not to the new flag.

Unlike Carvajal, Cuban professor Avelino Víctor Couceiro Rodríguez supports Dávila’s findings, citing as evidence the same secondary written accounts used by Dávila, including the assertions made by historian Cayetano Coll Toste and lawyer José Coll Cuchí, respected contemporaries who identified Vélez Alvarado as the original designer of the flag. 

In 1922, Coll Toste, the official historian of Puerto Rico between 1913 and 1927, described the designer of the flag in Boletín Histórico de Puerto Rico, Tomo IX (Puerto Rico Historical Bulletin, Volume IX ) as follows:

which, translated in English, reads as:

In 1923, lawyer José Coll Cuchí, son of Coll Toste, described the origins of the flag in El Nacionalismo en Puerto Rico (Nationalism in Puerto Rico) as follows:

which, translated in English, reads as:

As alluded by historians Dávila and Couceiro Rodríguez, followers of Vélez Alvarado believe that he was the victim of discrediting campaign aimed at undermining his reputation as the original designer of the flag. Vélez Alvarado had been commonly recognized as the Padre de la Bandera Puertorriqueña (Father of the Puerto Rican Flag) since the 1890s, but his status as the creator of the flag began to be questioned in the 1930s, after he became one of the founding members of the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico and main supporters of the violent and terrorizing pro-independence struggle advocated by militant leader Albizu Campos.

Other historians have claimed that neither Marín Shaw or Vélez Alvarado designed the flag, attributing it instead to fellow Puerto Rican revolutionaries Manuel Besosa, whose daughter is claimed to have sown the flag presented at the adoption meeting, and Lola Rodríguez de Tió, prominent pro-independence Puerto Rican poet who composed the first version of the national anthem of Puerto Rico, La Borinqueña, in 1868 as the rallying cry for the Grito de Lares (Cry of Lares) revolt, and who famously wrote A Cuba (To Cuba), in which she describes in Spanish the intertwined independence struggles of the two islands and the strong interrelationships between their exiled revolutionaries as:

which, translated in English, reads as:

First waving


The new revolutionary flag of Puerto Rico was first flown on the island in May 1896 during the funeral of pro-independence Puerto Rican leader and Grito de Lares (Cry of Lares) veteran José Gualberto Padilla. In 1897, Antonio Mattei Lluberas visited the Puerto Rican Revolutionary Committee in New York City to plan a revolt in the municipality of Yauco. He returned to Puerto Rico with the new revolutionary flag representing a prospective independent Puerto Rican republic. On March 24, 1897, a group of men led by Fidel Vélez and openly carrying the flag for the first time in Puerto Rico, unsuccessfully attacked the barracks of Spanish Civil Guard in Yauco. The Intentona de Yauco (Attempted Coup of Yauco) revolt was the second and last major attempt against Spanish rule in the island, which was invaded, occupied, and annexed by the U.S. during the Spanish-American War in July 1898.

Outlawed display
As with the Lares flag, the use and display of this second revolutionary flag was outlawed, as the only flags permitted to be flown in colonial Puerto Rico were the Spanish flag (1493 to 1898) and the American flag (1898 to 1952). From December 10, 1898, the date of the annexation of Puerto Rico by the U.S., to July 25, 1852, the date of the establishment the commonwealth of Puerto Rico (Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico), it was considered a felony to display the Puerto Rican flag in public, with the flag of the United States being the only flag permitted to be flown on the island. However, the Puerto Rican flag was often used by the pro-independence Liberal Party of Puerto Rico and Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico at their assemblies.

In March 1948, the elected Puerto Rican Senate, controlled by the Partido Popular Democrático (PPD) and presided by Luis Muñoz Marín, who would become the first native Puerto Rican elected to colonial governorship in 1949 and the first governor of the commonwealth of Puerto Rico in 1952, approved the Gag Law 53 of 1948 (Ley de La Mordaza de 53 of 1948), which was signed into law in June by appointed governor Jesús T. Piñero, who became the first and only native Puerto Rican appointed to colonial governorship in 1946.



Similar to the anti-communist law passed in the U.S. in 1940, the Smith Act, which forbade any attempts to “advocate, abet, advise, or teach” the violent overthrow or destruction of the U.S. government, Puerto Rico’s gag law of 1948, made it a crime to own or display a Puerto Rican flag, to sing a patriotic tune, to speak or write of independence, or meet with anyone, or hold any assembly in favor of independence. Carrying a sentence of up to ten years imprisonment, a fine of up to US $10,000, or both, the law aimed to discourage and suppress organized opposition against the elected American-allied government of Puerto Rico, specifically resistance from armed nationalist militant members of the radical pro-independence Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico, which in 1950, incited not only by the aforementioned gag order, but also by the approval of the creation of the commonwealth by U.S. Congress and President Truman with the passing of the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950, executed a coordinated series of insurrectionist attacks, which included the attempted assassinations of elected governor Muñoz Marín at La Fortaleza in Old San Juan and President Truman at Blair House in Washington, D.C.

In 1957, the gag law was ruled unconstitutional and was repealed on the basis that it violated freedom of speech within Article II of the Constitution of Puerto Rico and the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.

Commonwealth adoption
After several failed attempts by the colonial elected government of Puerto Rico in 1916, 1922, 1927 and 1932 to formalize the revolutionary flag of 1895 as the flag of Puerto Rico, in July 1952, with the establishment of the commonwealth of Puerto Rico (Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico), the elected governor Luis Muñoz Marín and legislature finally adopted the flag of 1895 as the island’s standard, proclaiming it the official flag of Puerto Rico in the Ley del 24 Julio de 1952 (Law of July 24, 1952) as follows:

Some interpreted the adoption of the flag as a deliberate ploy by Muñoz Marín to neutralize the pro-independence movement within his own party. For nationalist leader Pedro Albizu Campos, having the flag represent the new American-allied government was a desecration, while the Puerto Rican Independence Party accused the government of "corrupting beloved symbols."

In 1995, the flag was proclaimed again as the flag of Puerto Rico in the Regulation on the Use in Puerto Rico of the Flag of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico of August 3, 1995 (Reglamento sobre el Uso en Puerto Rico de la Bandera del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico del 3 de Agosto de 1995):

Independence and Antillean confederation
In 1868, Puerto Rican pro-independence leader Ramón Emeterio Betances, urged Mariana Bracetti to knit the revolutionary flag of the Grito de Lares (Cry of Lares), the emblem of the first of two short-lived revolts against Spanish rule in the island, using as design the quartered flag of the First Dominican Republic and the lone star of the Cuban flag with the aim of promoting Betances’ idea of uniting the three neighboring Spanish-speaking Caribbean territories of Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic into an Antillean Confederation for the protection and preservation of their sovereignty and interests.

Colors
According to Puerto Rican poet Luis Lloréns Torres, the white cross stands for the yearning of homeland redemption, the red rectangles for the blood poured by the heroes of the revolt, and the white star for liberty and freedom. It’s assumed that like the blue triangle of the revolutionary flag of 1895, the blue rectangles of the Lares flag stand for the sky and waters of the island.

Cuban and Puerto Rican solidarity
In December 1895, around fifty-eight exiled Puerto Rican revolutionaries, many of them veterans of the Grito de Lares (Cry of Lares) revolt, re-established the Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico under the name Sección Puerto Rico del Partido Revolucionario Cubano (Puerto Rico Section of the Cuban Revolutionary Party) as part of the Cuban Revolutionary Party in New York City, where they continued to advocate for Puerto Rican independence from Spain with the support of their Cuban companions, including Cuban national hero José Martí.

Determined to affirm the strong bonds existing between Cuban and Puerto Rican revolutionaries, and the union of Cuban and Puerto Rican struggles for national independence and fights against Spanish colonialism, the committee, with the knowledge and approval of their fellow Cuban revolutionaries, unanimously adopted the Cuban flag with colors inverted as the new revolutionary flag to represent a sovereign “Republic of Puerto Rico”, replacing the Lares flag, which had been used by revolutionaries as the flag of a prospective independent Puerto Rico since their attempt at self-determination in 1868, but was eventually rejected, as it represented a failed revolt.

In Memoria de los trabajos realizados por la Sección Puerto Rico del Partido Revolucionario Cubano, 1895-1998 (Memoir of the work accomplished by the Puerto Rico Section of the Cuban Revolutionary Party, 1895-1898), a memoir arranged by the Partido Revolucionario Cubano (Cuban Revolutionary Party) with a written account by members of the Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico Robert H. Todd and José Julio Henna, the new Puerto Rican flag is described as being the Cuban flag with inverted colors: white and red stripes and a blue triangle with a white star in the center.

Consecrated by the spilled blood of the thousands of Puerto Ricans who had fought and died in Cuba during the war of independence, the new flag was described by Bentances, Padre de la Patria (Father of the Homeland), as la sagrada bandera de la patria (the sacred flag of the homeland). Following not only Betances, but also national heroes Martí and Ruís Rivera, both of whom approved of the flag, pro-independence leaders from Puerto Rico, including Luis Muñoz Rivera, José De Diego, and Pedro Albizu Campos, revered the flag as a precious symbol representing the ideal of ''Patria y Libertad (Homeland and Liberty). ''

Revolutionary colors

There is no direct written account by members of the Puerto Rican Revolutionary Committee specially detailing the symbolism of the colors of the flag adopted in 1895. However, according to some historians, the committee proclaimed that the blue triangle stands for the sky and coastal waters, the three red stripes for the spilled blood of brave warriors, the two white stripes for victory and peace after gaining independence, and the white star for the island of Puerto Rico. In the absence of a direct explanation from the committee members, other historians have concluded that like the Cuban flag, the three colors of the flag and the three points of the triangle represent the republican ideals of freedom, equality, and fraternity proclaimed in the French Revolution.

Democratic form of government and commonwealth colors
In August 1995, the commonwealth government of Puerto Rico, in accordance with the Ley del 24 Julio de 1952 (Law of July 24, 1952), which stipulated the adoption of the flag of 1895 as the official flag of Puerto Rico, issued a regulation regarding the use of the flag titled Reglamento sobre el Uso en Puerto Rico de la Bandera del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico (Regulation on the Use in Puerto Rico of the Flag of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico), in which it defined the symbolism in Spanish as:

which, translated in English, reads as:

The original symbolism of the flag, said to have been described by the pro-independence Puerto Rican Revolutionary Committee in 1895, is different from the one believed to have been in place since 1952 but only officially stipulated in the regulation of 1995. Whereas the original alludes to the revolutionary roots of the flag with references to “brave warriors” and “gaining independence,” the latest not only implies the dignity and nobility of the established commonwealth government that adopted and retains the flag with references to “integrity,” “freedom,” “rights of men,” and “balance,” but it also implicates adherence and allegiance to said government when it mentions “the vital blood that nourishes those three governing powers.”

Korean War
Among the many occasions in which the flag has been used as a symbol of pride was when the flag arrived in South Korea during the Korean War. On August 13, 1952, while the men of Puerto Rico's 65th Infantry Regiment (United States) were being attacked by enemy forces on Hill 346, the regiment unfurled the flag of Puerto Rico for the first time in history in a foreign combat zone. During the ceremony Regimental Chaplain Daniel Wilson stated the following:

The Commanding Officer Colonel Juan César Cordero Dávila was quoted saying the following:

Space


On March 15, 2009, several Puerto Rican flags were aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery during its flight into outer space. Joseph M. Acabá, Puerto Rican astronaut who was assigned to the crew of STS-119 as a Mission Specialist Educator, carried on his person the flag as a symbol of his Puerto Rican heritage. Acabá presented the 185th Governor Luis Fortuño and Secretary of State Kenneth McClintock with two of the flags during his visit in June 2009.

Music
The flag is also the subject of the well-known song "Qué Bonita Bandera" ("What a Beautiful Flag") written in 1968 and made popular by Puerto Rican folksinger Florencio "Ramito" Morales Ramos. Astronaut Acabá requested that the crew be awakened on March 19, 2009 (Day 5 in space), with this song, as performed by José González and Banda Criolla. In 2012, Plena and Bomba Puerto Rican singing group, Plena Libre, released a modern rendition of the song.

Nationalist attack at U.S. Capitol


On various occasions the flag has been used as a symbol of protest, defiance, or terror. In the 1954 armed attack of the United States House of Representatives, a violent, terrorizing protest against American rule of the island, Puerto Rican nationalist leader Lolita Lebrón and three other fellow members of Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico unfurled the flag of Puerto Rico as they shouted "¡Viva Puerto Rico Libre!" ("Long live Free Puerto Rico!").

Statue of Liberty for Vieques
On November 5, 2000, Alberto De Jesús Mercado, known as Tito Kayak, and five other activists, protesting against the use of the island of Vieques as a bombing range by United States Navy, stepped onto the top deck of the Statue of Liberty in New York City and placed a large Puerto Rican flag on the statue's forehead, reenacting an earlier protest carried out on October 25, 1977 by Puerto Rican nationalists, who were demanding the release of four fellow nationalists serving time for their armed attack of the United States House of Representatives in 1954.

Law
In the law of Puerto Rico, the only two mentions of the dimensions of the flag are found in the Ley del 24 Julio de 1952 (Law of July 24, 1952):

and in the Regulation on the Use in Puerto Rico of the Flag of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico of August 3, 1995 (Reglamento sobre el Uso en Puerto Rico de la Bandera del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico del 3 de Agosto de 1895):

Composition
Both documents describe the basic design of the flag, but do not provide exact dimensions on the size of its rectangular shape, horizontal stripes, and upright five-pointed star. While the exact proportions of the flag have not been established by law, the most commonly used and accepted layout of the flag is as follows:



Most representations of the flag follow these specifications, with the only component likely to vary being the star, which is not unusual to be displayed bigger than the most commonly used sizes of one-third ($1/3$) and two-fifths ($2/5$) of the flag width.

Law
In the law of Puerto Rico, the only two mentions of the colors of the flag are found in the Ley del 24 Julio de 1952 (Law of July 24, 1952):

and in the Regulation on the Use in Puerto Rico of the Flag of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico of August 3, 1995 (Reglamento sobre el Uso en Puerto Rico de la Bandera del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico del 3 de Agosto de 1895):

Color schemes
Both documents describe the flag as having “red” and “white” alternating horizontal stripes, a “blue” equilateral triangle, and a “white” five-pointed lone star, but do not specify any official color shades. While the exact colors of the Puerto Rican flag have not been established by law, below are the most commonly used color shades. The intensity of both blue and red color shades changes to keep them complementary to each other.

Current medium blue flag


Medium blue flag of Puerto Rico (1995) uses the following color shades:

Dark blue flag


Dark blue flag of Puerto Rico (1952), matching the colors of the dark blue original Lares flag, one of two original versions of the flag available today, uses the following color shades:

Light blue flag
The light blue flag of Puerto Rico has become increasingly popular in recent years. Today, most representations of the flag feature a light sky blue color shade, matching the light blue color shade of one of only two original renditions of the first revolutionary flag of Puerto Rico, the Lares flag.



Light blue flag of Puerto Rico (1895), matching the colors of the light blue Lares flag, which is one of two original versions of the flag available today, uses the following color shades:

Original colors


In 1898, the first two descriptions of the design of the flag of Puerto Rico appeared in Memoria de los trabajos realizados por la Sección Puerto Rico del Partido Revolucionario Cubano, 1895-1998 (Memoir of the work accomplished by the Puerto Rico Section of the Cuban Revolutionary Party, 1895-1898), a recollection on the activities of the Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico arranged by the Cuban Revolutionary Party, in which not only a list of the acts carried out by the Puerto Rican committee is provided by the Cuban party, but also an account of the committee’s actions written by Robert H. Todd, senior committee member, and endorsed by José Julio Henna, president of the committee, both of whom where present at the adoption of the flag in New York City in 1895, is included.

Both mentions of the flag in the memoir describe it as being the Cuban flag with inverted colors, identifying its alternating stripes as “red” and “white,” triangle as “blue,” and lone star as “white.” No color shades were specified in the memoir, but it includes the revolutionary coat of arms of the committee, which features the flag of Puerto Rico in black and white with a dark equilateral triangle, possibly indicating the use of a dark shade of blue.

Dark blue
In 1952, when the newly established, elected commonwealth government adopted the revolutionary flag of 1895 as the island’s official standard, it identified by law its horizontal stripes as “red” and “white,” triangle as “blue,” and lone star as “white,” but it did not specify any official color shades. However, Luis Muñoz Marín, the architect and first governor of the commonwealth, and his administration, used a dark shade of blue, most commonly known as navy blue (Spanish: azul marino), matching the blue of the American flag, for the equilateral triangle of the flag, establishing it as the de facto shade of blue.

Some historians have argued that the dark shade of blue unveiled by the American-allied commonwealth government in 1952 was deliberately chosen to distance the flag from its pro-independence revolutionary originators, who are claimed by some historians to have used light blue for their Lares flag in 1868 and for their new flag in 1895, and link it to the similarly striped American flag through a shared shade of dark blue, with the aim of conveying a message of harmony between Puerto Rico and the U.S. Others have argued that the use of an American-derived dark blue shade instead of a medium or light blue one arose from practical and economical needs.

The dark blue shade used by the government of Muñoz Marín is also similar to the one featured on the original and authentic Lares flag exhibited in the Museum of the Army in Toledo, Spain.

Medium blue
In 1995, the commonwealth government of Puerto Rico issued a regulation regarding the use of the flag, Reglamento sobre el Uso en Puerto Rico de la Bandera del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico (Regulation on the Use in Puerto Rico of the Flag of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, in which it once again identified the flag as having “red” and “white” horizontal stripes, a “blue” triangle, and a “white” lone star but did not specify any official color shades. Since the regulation’s promulgation in the mid-1990s, the government and people of Puerto Rico have most commonly used a medium blue shade, most commonly known as royal blue (Spanish: azul real), featured on the equilateral triangle of the current flag, as the de facto shade of blue. This shade of blue has replaced dark blue as the most used color.

In August 2022, an amendment bill was unsuccessfully introduced in the Puerto Rican Senate which would have established the current medium blue, an “azul royal” (royal blue), as the official color of the flag.

Light blue
In early 2000s, a selected group of Puerto Rican historians gathered at the Ateneo Puertorriqueño (Puerto Rican Athenaeum), one of the island’s principal cultural institutions, proclaimed light blue, most commonly known as sky blue (Spanish: azul celeste), as the original shade of blue adopted by members of the Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico in 1895, citing as evidence contemporaneous but secondary, oral sources identifying light blue as the original color shade, which their sources claim was the same shade used on the Lares flag, the revolutionary flag many of said same members rallied around during the Grito de Lares (Cry of Lares) revolt in 1868.

However, the original color shades used for both the revolutionary flag of 1895 and the revolutionary flag of 1868 remain unclear, as there is no written primary source account specifying the original color shades of either flags. The only two surviving original renditions of the flag of 1868 feature different shades of blue, one uses light blue and the other dark blue, while one of the oldest known color depictions of the flag of 1895, appearing on a postcard in circulation between 1910 and 1920, features a medium shade of blue.

It appears that only two of several flags made for the revolt in 1868 have survived to this day. The originality of the light blue flag of the revolt is in dispute, as there is no written primary source to authenticate it, with most historians recognizing it as a copy made by the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico in the 1930s based on contemporaneous but secondary, oral sources. The dark blue flag of the revolt is mentioned in Historia de la insurrección de Lares (History of the Lares insurrection), a written primary source from 1872 by José Pérez Moris that authenticates its originality.

Cuban blue
Some historians have added that the shade of blue originally adopted in 1895 was light to medium blue, as that was the contemporaneous shade of the stripes of the Cuban flag. However, there is disagreement among historians as to what was the original shade of blue of the Cuban flag, with some claiming it was light blue, while others say it was the current ”azul turquí” (navy blue), or the navy blue of the American and French flags, the flags of the two countries which political revolutions in the late 18th century inspired in great part the Latin American independence movements of the 19th century, starting with Haiti in 1791.

Current status
In August 2022, an amendment bill was unsuccessfully introduced in the Puerto Rican Senate which would have established the current medium blue, identified in the legislation as “azul royal” (royal blue), as the official color of the flag. Recognizing royal blue as the most used color shade of blue throughout time, the bill aimed to declare it the formal color of the equilateral triangle of the flag to settle the uncertainty and debate that has persisted in Puerto Rico due to a lack of specificity in Ley del 24 Julio de 1952 (Law of July 24, 1952), the law that formally established the standard as the flag of the island. According to the bill, the ongoing issue over the tonality of the color blue has the international community confused as to what is the correct shade of blue to be used on the flag representing Puerto Rico abroad.

To this day, the color shades of the flag of Puerto Rico have never been officially determined by law in Puerto Rico, making all shades of blue legally legitimate and acceptable.

Therefore, it is common to see the triangle of the flag of Puerto Rico with different color shades of blue, ranging from the lighter sky blues to the medium azure blues and darker navy blues. Occasionally, the shade of blue displayed on the flag is used to show preference on the issue of Puerto Rico’s political status, with light blue, the shade presumably used by pro-independence revolutionaries in 1868 and 1895, representing complete independence from the U.S., and sovereigntism or independence as a sovereign freely associated state with the U.S., dark blue, the shade used by most functionaries since 1952, representing statehood or integration into the U.S. as a state, and medium blue, the shade in-between pro-independence light blue and pro-statehood dark blue most commonly used by the government and people since the 1990s, representing the current intermediary status of commonwealth as an unincorporated and organized U.S. territory.

Protocol


According to the law of Puerto Rico, all people present when the flag is raised, lowered, or passed in a parade, must stand up, look at the flag, and stay as such until it is completely raised, lowered, or carried away in passing. Men must take off their hat, and hold it with their right hand placed near the left shoulder with the right hand on the heart. Men without a hat and women must greet the flag by putting their right hand on the heart. The personnel of the armed forces must greet militarily.

The official salute to the flag must be recited on the following occasions:

• In those official and civic activities that, due to their character, warrant it.

• In any act of an official or civic nature in which the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States is recited.

• On those occasions when the Governor of Puerto Rico so determines.

• The official salute to the flag must be recited after the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States.

Text
The text of the official salute to the flag of Puerto Rico is as follows:

Protocol
The use of flag of Puerto Rico is regulated by Reglamento sobre el Uso en Puerto Rico de la Bandera del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico del 3 de Agosto de 1995 (Regulation on the Use in Puerto Rico of the Flag of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico of August 3, 1995). The regulation stipulates the proper use of the flag from the fourth to the twenty-eighth article, which are as follows:

Outdoor use
• When the flag is raised outdoors, a flagpole must be used which length is no less than two and a half times the length of the flag.

• The flag must not be raised outdoors before sunrise or after sunset, except on those occasions when, for special reasons, the Governor of Puerto Rico provides otherwise. The flag may be hoisted at night on special occasions to produce a patriotic effect.

Where and when it should be hoisted
• If weather conditions allow it, the flag must be raised in or near public buildings during working days and in those commemorative activities of the following holidays:

Note: Good Friday is not considered a public holiday.

• The flag must be hoisted in or near the premises intended for voting during the days of general or special elections.

• During the school season, the flag must be raised on or near the schools.

• The flag may be raised in the private residence of any citizen who so wishes.

• Flags may be hoisted by private institutions, as long as they comply with the provisions of this title.

How to fly the flag


• When raised next to flags of another nations, all flags and flagpoles must be equal in size and height.

• The flag must be raised speedily, but in a considerate, ceremonial, and respectful manner.

• The flag must be raised on a flagpole next to the flagpole where the flag of the United States has been raised. Both flags should be at the same height. The flag must be hoisted after the flag of the United States is hoisted, and it should be lowered before the flag of the United States is lowered. When the flag is raised, it should always be to the left of the flag of the United States, and no other flag will be placed between the two.

• The Flag must begin to be hoisted at the first note of the anthem of Puerto Rico and will continue to be raised until it reaches the top of the flagpole with the last notes of the anthem. This must also be done, but in reverse order, when the flag is lowered to the chords of the Anthem of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

• The flag must not be displayed with the upper tip of its five-pointed star down except in cases of emergency, such as in boats that are adrift or in serious danger of sinking, as this is the traditional naval way of asking for help.

In parade


• When the flag is carried in a parade, it must always be carried to the left of the flag of the United States, taking care that both are kept at the same height and at the same angle.

• Any other flag, banner, or emblem of state, municipal or private agencies that is also carried in the parade, must be carried immediately behind the flags, or to the left of them.

• When a flagpole is used to carry the flag, it must measure at least one and a half times the length of the flag.

• The flag must not be tilted when hymns of other nations are played or when the flags of other nations are displayed.

In a vehicle


• The flag must not be displayed on the hood, roof, sides, or back of a vehicle, be it a car, train, or any other transport vehicle.

• When the flag is displayed on a vehicle, a flagpole firmly secured to it must be used.

Display next to the flag of the United States and that of other nations


• When the flag, the flag of the United States, and that of any foreign nation or nations are displayed at the same time, all flags must be of the same size and must be hoisted on separate flagpoles of equal height.

• The flag must be to the left of the flag of the United States. The foreign flag or flags will be placed to the left of the of Puerto Rico, following the alphabetical order in Spanish of the countries they represent.

• In the case of the flags of Latin American nations, they will be placed in the alphabetical order of countries used by the Organization of American States, according to its Manual of Inter-American Conferences. This is: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, United States, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Display in the front of a building


• When the flag is hoisted on the front of a building, be it on the sill of a window or balcony, the blue equilateral triangle must be at the top of the flagpole unless the flag is hoisted at half-mast.

Display without a flagpole


• The flag must be displayed extended flat, either vertically or horizontally, falling freely and without folds. When displayed horizontally, the blue equilateral triangle must be to the right of the flag, that is, to the left of the observer in front of it.

On a street
• When displayed on a street, the flag must be suspended vertically with the base of the blue equilateral triangle facing up.

Use in public tribunes


• In the public grandstand, the flag should never be hoisted for decorative purposes or to cover the stand.

• When it is raised in front of a public tribune or platform, it must be placed at a higher level than that occupied by the speaker.

• When it is held on a public tribune together with that of the United States, the flag must be to the left of the speaker, and the flag of the United States to the right of the speaker.

Unveiling of statues or monuments
• The flag must be hoisted in all official ceremonies of unveiling statues or public monuments honoring the memory of illustrious people, but it should never be used to cover the statue or monument that is going to be unveiled.

Puerto Rico National Guard


• The flag must be displayed at all ceremonies or stops in which the National Guard participates.

In coffins alone
• When the flag is used to cover a coffin, it must be placed in such a way that the blue equilateral triangle is in the head end. The flag must be five feet by nine and a half feet. The flag must not descend to the grave, nor should it touch the earth.

In coffins next to the flag of the United States
• When the flag and that of the United States are used to cover a coffin, the flag of the United States will first be placed on the coffin so that the union or blue field of that flag is at the head to the left side of the coffin. The flag of Puerto Rico will be placed on the coffin, with the triangle towards the feet of the coffin with the apex of the triangle pointing towards the head.

In the presence of the Governor
• The flag will be raised or displayed at all public ceremonies in which the Governor of Puerto Rico is present.

Horizontal on the wall with the flag of the United States


• If the flag is placed horizontally on the wall, its colors must be completely displayed, with the triangle towards the right of it, that is, to the left of the person who observes it from the front. The flag will go to the left of the flag of the United States, that is, to the right of the observer.

Crossed on the wall with the flag of the United States


• When the flag of the United States and the flag of Puerto Rico are crossed against a wall, flagpole, or other place, the flag of Puerto Rico will be to the left of the flag of the United States. The flagpole of the United States, in accordance with its regulations, will be crossed over the flagpole of Puerto Rico. When looking at the flags thus arranged, the flag of the United States will be to the left of the observer, and that of Puerto Rico to the right of the observer.

Use at half-mast
• On the occasion when the flag must be raised at half-mast, it must first be hoisted to the top of the pole and then lowered to the half-mast position. When the flag is to be lowered from the half-mast position, it must first be raised to the top, and then be completely lowered.

• The use of black crepes on the flagpole is prohibited unless it is by order of the Governor of Puerto Rico.

• The flag must be hoisted at half-mast whenever the flag of the United States is hoisted at half-mast by presidential order.

• The flag must also be raised at half-mast when authorized or ordered by the Governor of Puerto Rico, by proclamation or executive order. In this case, the flag of the United States will also be hoisted at half-mast.

When folding the flag
• The flag must be folded following the military system accustomed to the flag of the United States, that is, in the form of a triangle. The folds will be made so that the star in the triangle of the flag is shown at the top of it, once folded.

Salute


• During the ceremony of hoisting or lowing the flag, or when it passes in a parade, all the people present must stand up, look at the flag and stay that way until it passes. Men must take off their hat and hold it with their right hand placed near the left shoulder so that the right hand is on the heart. Men without a hat and women will greet the flag by putting their right hand on the heart. The personnel of the armed forces will greet militarily.

Official salute to the flag
• The text of the Official salute to the flag of Puerto Rico will be as follows: I swear before the flag of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, to honor the homeland it symbolizes, the people it represents, and the ideals it embodies of freedom, justice, and dignity.

• The official salute to the flag must be recited on the following occasions:

• In those official and civic activities that, due to their character, warrant it.

• In any act of an official or civic nature in which the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States is recited.

• On those occasions when the Governor of Puerto Rico so determines.

• The official salute to the flag must be recited after the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States.

Respectful treatment
• No person shall mutilate, damage, desecrate, trample, insult or belittle with words or works the flag.

• The flag should not be allowed to touch the ground or the floor, or to crawl through the water.

• Nor should it be held, unfolded, used or stored in such a way that it is torn, stained, or easily exposed to damage.

• The flag should not be used to cover the ceiling or the roof of a place.

• When the conditions of the flag are such that it can no longer be used, it must be destroyed in private, respectful way, preferably through incineration.

• For no reason should a flag in a state of deterioration be used, that is, frayed or with faded colors.

• In cases where it is absolutely necessary to wash the flag, such washing must be done privately and in a respectful manner.

• In sporting events that take place in Puerto Rico, it will be the responsibility of the organizers of the activity and/or the administrators of the premises, to ensure at all times that due decorum and respect for the flags are given.

Prohibitions
• The flag must not be weaved or embroidered on cushions, handkerchiefs or similar items; nor should it be printed or engraved on napkins, whether of any material, or in boxes, or in any item that must be disposed of as unusable.

• The use of the flag as an emblem or badge of political parties or candidates listed on the ballot is prohibited.

• It is also forbidden to use it as an emblem or badge in relation to primary elections, plebiscite elections, referendum, or any other type of consultation that is made to the people by electoral means.

• The following practices are prohibited:

• Stamp, print or in any way make appear any word or words, number, mark, engraving, design, or advertisement of any kind on the flag.

• Unfold, or display in public view a flag on which a word, number, mark, engraving, design, painting, or advertisement of any kind has been printed, printed or added.

• Unfold to the public, sell, offer for sale or use any item or object that serves as a packaging for merchandise, in which the flag has been printed, printed, engraved or fixed in order to draw attention, decorate, mark or distinguish the item or object on which the flag has been printed, painted, fixed or stamped.

• No person shall use the flag in any type of commercial propaganda or for the purpose of attracting the attention of the consumer.

• The flag will not be used as part of, nor will it be printed on a suit, uniform, or dress, under any circumstances.

• It is forbidden to use the flag to cover, cover, dress or decorate animals, athletes or participants in public shows.

Exceptions to prohibitions
• The prohibitions will not be applicable to the press, nor to books, brochures, certificates, diplomas, appointments to public office, notebooks, jewelry or stationery for correspondence, in which the flag is printed, painted or stamped, detached from advertisements of all kinds.

Historical flags
The historical progression of flags in Puerto Rico is as follows:

Municipal flags
Each of the 78 municipalities of Puerto Rico, including the islands of Culebra and Vieques, have adopted a flag which represents the region and its people. The flags contain coat of arms or images associated with the region, including birds, animals, or crops. Many pay tribute to the indigenous Taíno people of Puerto Rico, who ruled the island before the European colonization. For example the flag of Utuado, features a Taino sun in honor of Cacique Agüeybaná or The Great Sun. Others honor the Spanish political, ancestral, and cultural roots of the island. For example, the flag of San Germán, honors Spain with a Spanish coat of arms.

Black flag


Since 2016, an all-black rendition of the flag of Puerto Rico has been a symbol of Puerto Rican independence, resistance, and civil disobedience. The origin of the flag traces back to the early morning of July 4, 2016, when a group of female members of Artistas Solidarixs y en Resistencia (Artists in Solidarity and Resistance) repainted a popular and well-known mural of the original red, white, and light blue (presumed by historians) flag, on the door of 55 Calle San José in Old San Juan, with stark black and white to symbolize that the flag is in mourning over the passing of the law Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA), which had just been signed into law by President Barack Obama.



The Act established the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico to manage the island's chronic, crippling debt. The Board, infamously known by protesting Puerto Ricans as “La Junta,” has been heavily criticized by many as an act of blatant colonialism, as it claims to be at the service of the Puerto Rican people, but it is not based in Puerto Rico, and it is not electorally accountable to the voters of Puerto Rico. The black flag has become a common symbol of protest and defiance in Puerto Rico.

Olympics flag


At the Summer Olympics 1948, the Puerto Rican team marched behind a white flag which had the Great Seal of Puerto Rico in the center and the legend "PUERTO RICO" in red above it. The current flag of Puerto Rico was legalized during the 1952 Summer Olympics, and the Puerto Rican team began to use it immediately.

Similar flag


In the 1950s, Puerto Rico contacted Norway's Foreign Ministry in an attempt to have Norwegian transport and shipping company Det Stavangerske Dampskibsselskap (DSD) stop using a flag that has a significant likeness to Puerto Rico's flag. The company has claimed that their flag has been in use since at least 1903, and that although the design of the Puerto Rican flag is eight years older than their flag, it was not officially approved by the Puerto Rican government as a national flag until 1952. Norway has not legally challenged the shipping company's position that their flag is older than Puerto Rico's. The shipping company's flag is currently in use.