Flag of Puerto Rico

What the flag of Puerto Rico looks like

The flag of Puerto Rico consists of five horizontal stripes of equal height: red at the top and bottom, with white stripes alternating between them. At the hoist there is an equilateral blue triangle that extends from the hoist into the stripes, and inside it sits a single white five-pointed star. The proportions are 2:3.

The blue used officially since 1952 is dark, close to the navy of the American flag. A lighter sky blue was used on earlier versions, and many Puerto Ricans, especially supporters of independence, still prefer it.

The flag is easily confused with the flag of Cuba, which is an almost mirror image: the Cuban flag has blue and white stripes and a red triangle. The design is also close to that of the Czech Republic, which has a white and red field with a blue triangle but no star or stripes.

Puerto Rico flag meaning and symbolism

The meaning that is usually given today is that the red stripes stand for the blood of the brave warriors, the white stripes for victory and peace, the blue triangle for the sky and the surrounding sea, and the three sides of the triangle for the three branches of government: executive, legislative and judicial. The single star stands for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

These meanings were assigned later. The original 1895 design was a statement about independence from Spain, and its colors followed the Cuban flag, which fighters in both islands saw as a shared cause. In the early 20th century the flag stood for separation from the United States. After 1952 it became the flag of the Commonwealth, and for many people it now stands for Puerto Rican identity as a whole.

History of the Puerto Rican flag

Before the current flag, Puerto Rico used the flags of Spain, which ruled the island for about four centuries. A separatist banner was raised in the 1868 uprising known as the Grito de Lares, but the flag known today was created in 1895, when the Puerto Rican section of the Cuban Revolutionary Party met in New York City. The group, which supported independence for both islands, chose a design that reversed the colors of Cuba's flag. Several people are credited with the design, including Antonio Vélez Alvarado, who is often named as the author.

Spain gave up the island after the Spanish-American War of 1898, and Puerto Rico came under the United States. Flying the Puerto Rican flag was restricted for decades, and under the 1948 Law 53, known as the Gag Law, it was a crime to display it. The law was repealed in 1957. In the meantime the flag was adopted as the official flag of the new Commonwealth on 25 July 1952, with the blue changed to a darker shade.

In 2016, after Congress passed the PROMESA act that set up a fiscal oversight board for the island, many protesters began to use a version of the flag in black and white. They said the colors had been taken away from the island's people, and the black-and-white flag became a symbol of resistance to austerity and debt.

Why Puerto Rico has two flags

Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the United States with a self-governing status called a commonwealth. Its people are US citizens, and the American flag flies alongside the island's own. The Puerto Rican flag is the local flag, not the flag of a sovereign state, which is why you will often see both together. Puerto Rico also sends its own athletes to the Olympic Games under its own flag.

See also the Puerto Rico flag emoji page, or the flag of the United States.