Last modified: 2009-10-02 by dov gutterman
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![[Flag of Puerto Rico]](../images/p/pr.gif)
image by Victor Quinones and Peter Hans van den
Muijzenberg, 29 October 2008
Official Name: Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
Capital: San Juan
Location: Caribbean
Government Type: Commonwealth associated with
USA
Flag adopted: 1952
(Designed: 22 December 1895)
Coat of Arms adopted: 1976 (First adopted: 9
March 1905)
ISO Code: PR
See also:
Puerto Rico's flag is 100 years old on 22 December. The NANDO News service on the net had a short report on the celebrations a few days ago. Some lines from the report:
"The flag was created in 1895, by the Puerto Rican section of the Cuban Revolutionary Party, which advocated independence for Puerto Rico and Cuba from Spanish rule." (...) "Its design is the same as the Cuban flag, but with the colors inverted. It has five horizontal stripes, alternating red and white, with a white star on a blue triangle in the extreme left." (...) "Before 1952, police arrested anyone displaying the flag on charges of insubordination against the United States. When Puerto Rico became a Commonwealth that year, the flag became the island's official emblem."
Jan Oskar Engene, 21 December 1995
From <www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Shores/8070/flag.htm>:
The National Flag is the highest expression of Nationality and
pride for the Motherland. Back in 1511, Spain issues an official
flag for Puerto Rico, based in the Coat of Arms authorized by the
spanish monarchs.
On December 22, 1895, a group of 59 Puerto Ricans gather at
"Chimney Corner Hall" in New York City and organizes a
political group, attached to the Cuban Revolutionary Party to
organize the Pro-Independence movement in Puerto Rico, still
under Spanish ruling. According to the meeting acts, the flag
"...is same as the cuban, but the color stripes are
inverted..."
There are different theories regarding the origins of our flag,
one of them names Manuel Besosa as the designer , in a letter
written by his daughter she says, "...my father asked me
to sew together some pieces of cloth, white, red and blue that he
brought himself , this tiny flag had 5 alterned stripes, red and
white, and a triangle with a five point star within it...".
This is the symbolism according to the 1895 meeting:
Red Stripes - The blood from the brave warriors.
White Stripes - Victory and peace after obtaining
indepence.
Blue Triangle - Our sky and coastal waters.
White Lone Star - Our beautiful Island.
It wasn't but until 1952 that our Legislature approved the final symbolism of our flag:
Red Stripes - stands for the "blood" that
nourishes the three branches of our government; Legislative,
Executive and Judiciary.
White Stripes - represents individual liberty and the
rights that keeps in perfect balance our form of government.
Blue Triangle - stands for the "Republican
Government", represented by the three branches.
White Lone Star - represents "The Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico".
Dov Gutterman , 28 December 1998
There has been an issue during recent years regarding the blue
tone of the triangle in the Puerto Rican flag. The 1895 original
design used a sky blue, however when the flag was adopted
officially by the Commonwealth in 1952 it featured a dark blue
very similar to that of the US flag (which is the one depicted
above). I dont know the exact reasons for that change but I
suspect that the new commonwealth governement of the time did not
want to use what had been a revolutionary independence flag.
Nonetheless, with the celebration of the flag's 100 aniversary in
1995 the current pro- statehood administration decided to go back
to the original sky blue tone. Still, there are many different
tones of blue used around the island, even among those in public
buildings. Most government buildings have switched to the sky
blue but many still use the dark tone. Also, independence
supporters like to use a very light blue tone while commonwealth
and statehood supporters prefer darker tones. It has become
possible to identify the status preference of people based on the
flag that they use.
Victor Quinones, 24 March 2000
After this digression, the original PR flag was simply the
Cuban flag with the colors reversed. The blue was not dark
but sky blue, as in the Cuban flag. The PR flag was
forbidden in the island from 1898 until 1952, but was flown in
defiance by the black-shirted Cadet Corps of the Puerto Rico
Nationalist Party. After 1952, the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico adopted the original flag based on the reverse-colored Cuban
one, but changed the hue of blue to dark blue, matching the USA
flag.
Esteban Jimenez, 3 November 2000
I suppose the shade of red was also darkened, as the US flag
uses "Old Glory Red" and the cuban flag uses a medium
shade.
António Martins, 7 November 2000
Since 1995 the oficial flag of Puerto Rico changed. Now the
oficial one is the sky blue variant. The Dark blue variant was
ofical Since 1952 to 1994 and the governor of Puerto Rico in 1995
signed a law that the oficial flag of Puerto Rico is the sky blue
variant.
Nelson L. Román, 19 December 2004
Ramón Reyes Díaz relates in "Claridad"
the origin of the flag of Puerto Rico. On 21 December 1895,
"Patria", the official organ of the Cuban Revolutionary
Party, announced a meeting during which the Puerto Rico Section
of the party should be formed. The meeting was attended on 22
December 1895 by 59 Puerto Ricans; it took place in Chimney Hall,
New York. Torreforte, a survivor from the Grito de Lares insurrection,
presented the new flag of Puerto Rico during the meeting. It was
similar to the Cuban flag, but with inverted colours for the
triangle and coloured stripes (red triangle and blue stripes for
Cuba vs. blue triangle and red stripes for Puerto Rico). The
three colours of the flag and the three points of the triangle
have the same meaning as in the Cubal flag, that is the
republican ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity proclaimed
by the French Revolution. There are different hypothesis on the
identity of the designer of the flag. Torreforte said that the
flag designer was Francisco Gonzalo (Pachín) Marín. Antonio
Vélez Alvarado claimed he was himself the designer of the flag.
Roberto H. Todd said that the flag was designed by Manuel Besosa,
member of the board of the Puerto Rican Section. The first flag
was sewn by Maria Manuela (Mima) Besosa according to Robert H.
Todd, or by Micaela Dalmau, according to Antonio Vélez Alvarado.
The flag of Puerto Rico was used for the first time during the
Yauco Attempt ("Intentona de Yauco") on 24 March 1897.
In 1932, the Nationalist Party used it as its emblem during the
elections. Blanca Canales hoisted the flag in Jayuya in 1950 when
proclaiming the Republic of Puerto Rico. Lolita Lebrón used
again the flag during the shoot-up in the United States Congress
in 1954. The legislative chambers attempted to officialize the
flag in 1916, 1922, 1927 and 1932, to no avail.
Ivan Sache, 6 January 2007
It would be good to check how much this alleged regulation is
observed in practice, for many images of the (official or
otherwise) flag of Puerto Rico I could found on line shows the
same shade of blue (and red) as the US flag. There were also few
with a lighter shade of blue (but with medium red, not dark).
António Martins, 14 january 2007
The only laws found is that of 1952 with the dark blue version
Furthermore, on the official
website of the Government of Puerto Rico, the version they
display is the dark blue version, as well as in all Government
portraits.
William-Jose Velez Gonzalez, 24 October 2008
Woodson Rainey asked:
"I am comparing the flag of Cuba with
the flag of Puerto Rico On this site. The flag of Cuba has a blue
field that is clearly an equilateral triangle. The flag of Puerto
Rica has a blue field that appears to be isosceles with the two
base angles greater than 60 degrees and extending into the banner
by a dimension equal to 4 stripes.
Is this true or is this a printing/drawing illusion?"
No it isn't a printing illusion, however (and strangely enough),
if made according to legislation both flags should actually have
the same equilateral triangle at their hoist (the flag of Cuba
according to Law No.42 or 1983 and that of Puerto Rico
by Act No. 1 of 1952). Despite this, the Puerto Rican
legislation is apparently ignored in practice, with the apex of
the triangle only extending the centre point of the flag.
Christopher Southworth, 15 July 2009
1) 
Dark Blue variant (Official 1952-1992)
image by Victor Quinones and Peter Hans van den
Muijzenberg, 29 October 2008
2) 
"Sky" Blue variant (Official since 1995)
image by Victor Quinones and Peter Hans van den
Muijzenberg, 29 October 2008
3) 
Light Blue variant
image by Victor Quinones and Peter Hans van den
Muijzenberg, 29 October 2008
Concering the blue tone of the triangle in the Puerto Rican
flag, here are the three commonly used variations in the island:
1) Dark Blue: Former official tone (until 1995), still
substantially used by government and commerce and prefferred by
pro- U.S. groups.
2) "Sky" Blue: Current official tone, used in most
government buildings, substantial commercial use.
Politically used mostly by pro commonwealth and statehood
groups.
3) Light Blue: Preffered and widely used by pro- independence
groups.
Victor Quinones, 6 October 2000
Do these two last versions has indeed a derker shade of red,
as in the US flag, or do they use medium red, like in the flag of
Cuba?
António Martins, 27 December 2000
See also: Puerto Rico - Political Flags
Puerto Rico does not have an Air Force but it does have an Air
National Guard. I have not been able to find an illustration of
any roundel for it on the web, but did find several sites selling
decals for Puerto Rico Air National Guard markings, so they must
have some sort of unique insignia.
Ned Smith, 19 April 1999
Puerto Rico is a non-incorporated territory of the United
States, so it has no Armed Forces of her own. Our Air National
Guard planes use the American roundel.
Blas Delgado Ortiz, 4 March 2000
There's something green on the Puerto Rican flags. For sure,
photographer Gregory Bull was not focusing on the flags...
Here is the photo from <story.news.yahoo.com>
titled: "People line the street waving Puerto Rican flags
along Fifth Avenue in New York Sunday, June 8, 2003, during part
of the Puerto Rican Day parade. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)".
Francisco Santos, 11 June 2003
It is the Puertorican "Coqui" (a frog) which is a
Puertorican icon. Over this coquí is written: Puerto Rico.
Nelson Román, 11 June 2003
According to this WMO
page, Saint Lucia use the US signal
set:
Extensively quoted from text: all references to flags and their
meanings (information on broadcasts left out if not accompanied
by hoisting flags). Sequence follows text.
- 56a (red pennant): "Small Craft Advisory: weather or sea
conditions (either present or forecast), sustained for more two
hours, that might be hazardous to small boats. Mariners learning
of a Small Craft Advisory are urged to determine immediately the
reason by tuning their radios to the latest marine broadcasts.
Decision as to the degree of hazard will be left up to the
boatmen, based on his experience and size and type of boat. The
threshold conditions for the Small Craft Advisory are usually 18
knots of wind (less than 18 knots in some dangerous waters) or
hazardous wave conditions.
1. Displays are made from about 200 points along the sea coasts,
the Great Lakes, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. No displays are made in
Alaska but warnings are broadcast by radio.
2. Hurricane watch (...) No display is provided for the
"Hurricane watch"."
- 41a (double set of red pierced black): "Hurricane warning:
winds 74 miles an hour (64 kt) and upwards when in connection
with a tropical cyclone.
1. Displays are made from about 200 points along the sea coasts,
the Great Lakes, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. No displays are made in
Alaska but warnings are broadcast by radio.
2. Hurricane watch: (...) No display is provided for the
"Hurricane watch"."
- 39a (double set of red pennants): "Gale warning: winds
within the range 39 to 54 miles an hour (34 to 47 kt).
1. Displays are made from about 200 points along the sea coasts,
the Great Lakes, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. No displays are made in
Alaska but warnings are broadcast by radio.
2. Hurricane watch: (...) No display is provided for the
"Hurricane watch"."
- 40a (red pierced black): "Storm warning: wind 55 miles an
hour (48 kt) and upwards, except that when winds are associated
with a tropical cyclone, HURRICANE warnings will be hoisted for
winds 74 miles an hour (64 kt) and upwards. (...)
1. Displays are made from about 200 points along the sea coasts,
the Great Lakes, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. No displays are made in
Alaska but warnings are broadcast by radio.
2. Hurricane watch: (...) No display is provided for the
"Hurricane watch"."
Jan Mertens, 20 April 2008
