In 1868, local independence leader Ramón Emeterio Betances urged Mariana Bracetti to knit a revolutionary flag using the flag of the Dominican Republic as an example, promoting the then popular ideal of uniting the three caribbean islands into an Antillean Confederation. The independence movement in Puerto Rico gained momentum with the liberation successes of Simón Bolívar and José de San Martín in South America. First indigenous designĪ statue of Mariana Bracety Cuevas knitting the Puerto Rican flag is located in Añasco barrio-pueblo. This flag flew wherever there was a Spanish military installation. The Spanish Army designed the " Cross of Burgundy Flag" and adopted it as their standard. Once the Spanish armed forces established themselves on the island they began the construction of military fortifications such as La Fortaleza, Fort San Felipe del Morro, Fort San Cristóbal and San Gerónimo. After the island was conquered and colonized, the flag of Spain was used in Puerto Rico, same as it was used in all of its other colonies. They carried as their military standard the "Spanish Expedition Flag". The conquistadores under the command of Juan Ponce de León proceeded to conquer and settle the island. Columbus wrote in his logbook that on October 12, 1492, he used the Royal Flag, and that his captains used two flags which the Admiral carried in all the ships as ensign, each white with a green cross in the middle and an 'F' and 'Y', both green and crowned with golden, open royal crowns, for Ferdinand II of Aragon and Ysabel (Isabel I). The introduction of a flag in Puerto Rico can be traced to when Christopher Columbus landed on the island's shore and with the flag appointed to him by the Spanish Crown claimed the island, which he named "San Juan Bautista", in the name of Spain. Therefore, it is not uncommon to see the flag of Puerto Rico with different shades of blue displayed in the commonwealth. In 1995, the government of Puerto Rico issued a regulation regarding the use of the Puerto Rican flag titled: "Regulation on the Use in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico of the Flag of Puerto Rico" ( Spanish: "Reglamento sobre el Uso en Puerto Rico de la Bandera del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico"), in which the government specifies the colors to be used but does not specify any official color tones or shades. The color of the triangle that was used by the administration of Luis Muñoz Marín was the dark blue, to match the blue of the United States flag. In 1952, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico adopted the 1895 flag design as its official standard. (This is contrasted by the usage of three blue and two white equal horizontal stripes and a red equilateral triangle at the hoist with a five-pointed star in the Cuban flag.) The use and display of the Puerto Rican flag was outlawed and the only flags permitted to be flown in Puerto Rico were the Spanish flag (1492 to 1898) and the American flag (1898 to 1952).
The new flag, which consisted of five equal horizontal bands of red (top and bottom) alternating with white a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side bears a large, white, five-pointed star in the center, was first flown in Puerto Rico on March 24, 1897, during the " Intentona de Yauco" revolt. Juan de Mata Terreforte, an exiled veteran of "El Grito de Lares" and vice-president of the Puerto Rican Revolutionary Committee, in New York City, adopted with its members the flag of Lares as the flag of Puerto Rico, until 1895, when the current design, modeled after the Cuban flag, was unveiled and adopted by the committee.
This flag was used in the short-lived Puerto Rican revolt against Spanish rule in the island, known as "El Grito de Lares", establishing for the first time a Puerto Rican national consciousness under colonial rule. Ramón Emeterio Betances and embroidered by Mariana "Brazos de Oro" Bracetti. The origins of the current flag of Puerto Rico, adopted by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in 1952, can be traced to 1868, when the first Puerto Rican flag, " The Revolutionary Flag of Lares", was conceived by Dr. The flag of Puerto Rico ( Spanish: Bandera de Puerto Rico) represents and symbolizes Puerto Rico and its people. Civil and state flag, civil and state ensignįive equal horizontal bands of red (top and bottom) alternating with white blue equilateral triangle based on the hoist side bears a large, white, five-pointed star in the center.