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The modern Puerto Rican flag was created today in 1895, by the the Puerto Rican Revolutionary Committee and modelled after the Cuban Revolutionary flag. People often ask me why Puerto Ricans are so attached to our flag.
Simply put: There was a time when it was forbidden to us.
Simply put: There was a time when it was forbidden to us.
Much like singing the original version of our national anthem—talking about independence, assembling in favour of independence or even overt national pride was made a felony by American colonisers.
This started when the US assumed control of PR in 1898, and further reinforced by La Ley de la Mordaza (The Gag Law) in 1948. The current flag was co-opted in 1952 by then Governor Muñoz to quell independence in his own political party, and changed the meanings of the colours.
Red stripes for blood, white for peace & victory, the star in a sea of blue symbolising the island and its waters became an island in a sea fenced in by blood and the pillars of republican government.
My uncle always called the white stripes jail bars, but that's another story)
My uncle always called the white stripes jail bars, but that's another story)
This photo is from protests last summer. There are some lighter blue versions mixed in, with the celestine blue triangle which hold special significance since this was the 1895 version that was outlawed by the Spanish and a symbol of the 1897 Intentona de Yauco revolt.
This revolt also was arguably the start of the Puerto Rican diaspora to the US, with the revolutionaries who revolted being exiled to New York City after serving prison sentences—if they were lucky enough to not be executed.
The most current form of flag activism w/r/t PR is the monochrome flag, used below in a protest at the 2017 Puerto Rico Day Parade in NYC. It symbolises resistance against the financial oversight boards and PROMESA that has strangled the island's ability to function.
So yeah, that's why we like our flag so much.
