Last modified: 2002-11-02 by dov gutterman
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![[Flag of Puerto Rico]](../images/p/pr.gif)
by Antonio Martins and Zeljko Heimer, 21
September 1999
See also:
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.
Antonio Martins, 7 November 2000
1) 
Dark Blue variant
by Victor Quinones, 6 October 2000
2) 
"Sky" Blue variant
by Victor Quinones, 6 October 2000
3) 
Light Blue variant
by Victor Quinones, 6 October 2000
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?
Antonio Martins, 27 December 2000
See also: Puerto Rico - Political Flags
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
.gif)
from <www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Shores/8070/shield.htm>
From <http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Shores/8070/shield.htm>:
Our Coat of Arms uses symbols of our history, culture and
religion. It was first recognized by the Spanish Crown in 1511,
but it wasn't until March 9,1905 that al law, establishing the
official Coat of Arms was signed. After numerous investigations
and amendments to that statute, the final version was approved
and signed into law in 1976.The green background stands for our
vegetation, our hopes and courtesy. Within the background there's
a lamb on top of the Book of Revelations, holding the seven seals
of The Apocalypse. The lamb symbolizes peace, purity, humble,
integrity, and holds a white flag with a red cross. The flag
means "truce", or knowledge to stop fighting. Both, the
lamb and the flag, are symbols of "John The
Baptist" or San Juan Bautista, the original name given by
the Spanish settlers.
The rim is covered by 16 symbols: castles signifying the
"Kingdom of Castilla" and lions, representing the
"Kingdom of Leon" and a flag, with both, lions and
castles, representing the unity of both kingdoms, also shows the
"Cross of Jerusalem" used by the Monarchs to expel the
"non christians" from the Spanish peninsula. The crown
on top symbolizes the "Royalty" who authorized this
shield. To the right, an "F" for Fernando, to the left,
a "Y" for Ysabel, the King and Queen of the Spanish
Empire. The motto reads: "Joannes Est Nomem Ejus",
it means "John is it name", the original name of
the island.
Our Coat of Arms is the oldest in use in America, other countries
created a new Coat when they became independent, ours is the only
one that remembers the Spanish presence in the "New
World" or America.
Dov Gutterman, 28 December 1998
There exists a slightly different version of the CoA of Puerto
Rico. The two differences are found on the shield's border:
1) The Cross of Jerusalem has a small cross at each corner.
2) Instead of the flag of Castile and Leon there is a flag of
Aragon and Sicily.
An example can be seen at <www.angelfire.com/az2/puertorico/prescudo.html>.
Also it is interesting to note that when this CoA was granted to
P.R. it included a flag based upon the same. While the
original drawing no longer exists, luckily the original
description does. Part of the description can be read (in
Spanish) at <www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Shores/8070/bandera.htm>.
Marcos Obregon, 19 Febuary 2002
It is true that this version existed previous to the
declaration of the present CoA as the official one. But it
was not an accurate representation of the original one given to
the Island by the King of Spain. The present and official
one is thought to be the most accurate version so far.
It's a pity that the source of this information is not mention,
if there exists one. To this point, we can only say that
this is a putative first flag. What I can interpret from
the description, the flag was divided in two horizontal bands,
red the lower one with a white symmetrical cross in the middle
(not sure what "dos a dos" or "two by two"
means), and green the upper band with a golden castle to the
hoist and a golden lion to the fly.
Blas Delgado Ortiz, 20 Febuary 2002
The motto on the CoA is "JOANNES EST NOMEN EJUS".
It's Latin. It means "John is his name" and is a
quotation from the book of Luke in the Bible. The elderly
Zachary (also spelled Zechariah) was told by an angel that his
wife Elizabeth would give birth to a son, and that they would
name him John. Zachary was struck speechless until the
child was born. When the time came to name the baby,
Elizabeth said his name was John, but the rest of the family
objected, wanting to name the child after his father and arguing
that no one in the family had ever been named John. They
approached Zachary for instructions, and he wrote on a tablet
"His name is John." The baby was the cousin of
Jesus and grew up to be known as John the Baptist, one of the
most important saints in the Christian religion. The
quotation is pertinent to Puerto Rico as a reference to the
island's capital, San Juan, which is Spanish for St. John.
The coat of arms, which shows a lamb with a banner resting upon a
book, is also a reference to John, as he was the one who referred
to Jesus with the words "Behold the Lamb of God."
Joe McMillan, 22 August 2002
"Dos o dos" refers to a equally divided cross.
I believe it describes a white greek cross over a red
background. This is a design used by the order of StJohn
the Baptist also known as the Knights of Malta. This makes sense
because the island was then known as San Juan Bautista.
Marcos Obregon, 21 October 2002
by Blas Delgado Ortiz , 4 March 2000
I have this book, which I have mentioned before, with the
information that I think is mistaken. The book is titled:
"FLAGS OF ALL NATIONS" by Cleveland H. Smith and
Gertrude R. Taylor, pub. by Thomas Y. Crowell Compnay, NYC, NY,
1946, 1947.
The book shows the rounded
shield of Puerto Rico on a white field, in the center, as the
Governor-General's flag.
Steve Stringfellow, 12 August 1997
This is regarding the seal appearing in the Puerto Rico home page and wrongly designated the Governor General’s Seal. There is no such thing as a Governor General in Puerto Rico, as in the British Commonwealth of Nations. Just simply Governor.
The round seal is in fact the Seal of the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico, or Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico,
instituted in 1953, and not to be confused with the CoA. The
Governor of Puerto Rico put it in display in front of him every
time he gives an official speech. In those instances, the seal
circunscribed with the inscription "GOBERNADOR DE PUERTO
RICO" is used. In official documents, the seal circunscribed
with "GOBIERNO DE PUERTO RICO" in a white circular band
is used today. The inscription originally read "ESTADO LIBRE
ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO."
Blas Delgado Ortiz, 4 March 2000
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
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