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Puerto Rico - Religious Flags

Puerto Rican Episcopal Church

Puerto Rican Episcopal Church

by Blas Delgado, 9 May 2005

Seal
by Blas Delgado, 5 May 2005

The Anglicanism arrived at Puerto Rico in the 1872, when under the direction of Bishop W. W. Jackson, Bishop of Antigua, the work of the Santi'sima Trinidad (Holy Trinity), at Ponce, was established. Years later, the church of Todos los Santos (All the Saints) was built at Vieques under the same jurisdiction. The church of San Andres (St. Andrew), at Mayaguez, was the first that began work in Spanish, in the 1907. In 1901, the Anglicanism passed to the jurisdiction of the Episcopal Church of the USA, and Bishop James H. Van Buren was named diocesan. Soon, bishops Charles B. Colmore, Charles F. Boynton, Albert Ervine Swift, Francisco Reus-Froylan, and David Andres Alvarez have succeeded in the episcopate, being bishop Alvarez the first elected bishop in the Diocese of Puerto Rico.

Seal of the Puerto Rican Episcopal Church: it is oval, the commonest form of the ecclesiastical shields. Inside the seal bordure appear the Spanish words Iglesia Episcopal Puertorriqueqa, meaning Puerto Rican Episcopal Church. The Great Mitre: it means that the authority of the Episcopal Church is the Bishop. The Episcopal adjective comes from the Latin word "episcopus" (bishop). Eagle: appears with its wings extended between two mitres (the eagle is the commonest bird in heraldry). The eagle appears to be looking for the two mitres. The two small mitres: representing the two episcopates, the Episcopate of the United States, from which derive the Puerto Rican Episcopate. Red field: in the upper part of the shield, that generally occupies one third of the same and which it is separated from the rest of the shield by a line; it is of red color, to mean the blood of Christ, by means of who our redemption took place. Blue field: the rest of the shield is of blue color meaning the sea and indicating the insular character of Puerto Rico. Paschal Lamb: it is of silver color, it indicates the seat of the Bishopric in San Juan and of the Cathedral, city and seat established in honor of Saint John the Baptist. The flag is a seal at the center of a white drape.
Blas Delgado, 5 May 2005