Last modified: 2024-10-12 by rob raeside
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image by Zoltan Horvath, 4 September 2024
Official Name: Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
Flag adopted: 1952
(Designed: 22 December 1895)
Coat of Arms adopted: 1976 (First adopted: 9
March 1905)
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 alternate 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
independence.
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 don't know the exact reasons for that change but I
suspect that the new commonwealth government of the time did not
want to use what had been a revolutionary independence flag.
Nonetheless, with the celebration of the flag's 100 anniversary 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 official flag of Puerto Rico changed. Now the
official one is the sky blue variant. The Dark blue variant was
official Since 1952 to 1994 and the governor of Puerto Rico in 1995
signed a law that the official 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 Cuban 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
Bill penalizes use of the American flag in the absence of a Puerto Rican
flag:
… la bandera es el símbolo patrio de más alto valor para una nación. Es el
principal símbolo con el que cada pueblo se identifica y se distingue ante la
gama de países que componen la comunidad internacional" (… the flag is the
national symbol of the highest value to a nation. It is the main symbol that
identifies each town and stands before the range of countries that make up the
international community.)
--Bill 555 introduced 25 January 2013 by Rep. Charlie Hernandez, Puerto Rico,
House of Representatives
Español:
http://www.elnuevodia.com/penalizarianporusodebanderadeee.uu.sinladepuertorico-1434312.html
English:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/25/bill-american-puerto-rican-flag_n_2553139.html
Dave Martucci, 26 January 2013
images by Zoltan Horvath, 4 September 2024
There is a Regulation No. 5282 issued on 3 August 1995, which defines the flag and its usage, but there are no color references: https://www.lexjuris.com/Reglamentos/estado/lex955282%20bandera.htm.
The color shades of the flag of Puerto Rico have never been officially determined by law in Puerto Rico, technically 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.
The medium blue most commonly used by the government and people since 1995,
representing the current intermediary status of commonwealth as an
unincorporated and organized U.S. territory.
The dark blue shade used by
most functionaries since 1952, representing statehood or integration into the
U.S. as a state.
The light blue flag of Puerto Rico has become
increasingly popular in recent years. The light blue 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.
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.
Zoltan Horvath 4 September 2024
The protocol manual for the
London 2012 Olympics
(Flags and Anthems Manual
London 2012 [loc12]) provides recommendations
for national flag designs. Each
NOC
was sent an image of the flag, including the
PMS shades, for their approval by LOCOG. Once this was obtained, LOCOG produced
a 60 x 90 cm version of the flag for further approval. So, while these specs may
not be the official, government, version of each flag, they are certainly what
the NOC
believed the flag to be.
For Puerto Rico: PMS 032 red, 281 blue. The vertical flag is simply the
horizontal version turned 90 degrees clockwise.
Ian Sumner, 10 October 2012
There is no official source that gives exact colors of the national flag;
these are all approximate colors from these documented sources.
The Flag
Manual - Beijing 2008 gives Pantone colors: PMS 032 (red), and PMS 281 (blue).
The French Navy Books give an illustration, but there is no any color
specification.
Flags and Anthems Manual London 2012 [loc12]
gives Pantone colors: PMS 032 (red), and PMS 281 (blue).
Vexilla Mundi gives colors in Pantone
system: PMS 280C (blue), PMS 200C (red), and PMS White.
Wikipedia illustrates medium blue flag
as a main flag, but illustrates all three versions of the flag, gives
construction details, and gives color approximate values of three versions as
follows:
Current flag (medium blue used since 1995):
Blue: RGB 8-68-255,
Hex #0044ff, CMYK 100-73-0-0, Pantone 2387 C
Red: RGB 237-0-0, Hex
#ed0000, CMYK 0-100-100-7, Pantone 2347 C
White: RGB 255-255-255, Hex #FFFFFF,
CMYK 0-0-0-0, Pantone 11-0601 TX Bright White
Dark
blue flag (1952)
Blue: RGB 0-56-167, Hex #0038a7, CMYK 100-66-0-35, Pantone 293 C
Red:
RGB 206-17-39, Hex #ce1127, CMYK 0-92-81-19, Pantone 186 C
White:
RGB 255-255-255, Hex #FFFFFF, CMYK 0-0-0-0, Pantone 11-0601 TX
Bright White
Light blue flag (1895)
Blue: RGB 135-206-250, Hex #87cefa,
CMYK
46-18-0-2, Pantone 2905 U
Red: RGB 206-0-0, Hex #Ce0000, CMYK
0-100-100-19, Pantone 3517 C
White: RGB 255-255-255, Hex #FFFFFF, CMYK 0-0-0-0,
Pantone 11-0601 TX Bright White
Flag Color Codes gives the following color
values:
Red: Hex # E92228, RGB 233-34-40, CMYK 0-90-76-0, Pantone 032, RAL
3024
White: Hex #FFFFFF, RGB 255-255-255, CMYK 0-0-0-0, Pantone N/A, RA N/A
Blue:
Hex # 3A5EAB, RGB 58-94-171, CMYK 100-78-0-57, Pantone
281, RAL 5007
Zoltan Horvath, 4 September 2024
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 Puerto Rican "Coqui" (a frog) which is a
Puerto Rican icon. Over this coquí is written: Puerto Rico.
Nelson Román, 11 June 2003