Meaning/Origin of the Flag

The flag of Puerto Rico shows five identical broad horizontal stripes in red, white, red, white and red, as soon as a blue isosceles triangle on the pole with a white five-pointed star in it. It was hoisted for the first time on 22nd of December in 1895, but had only an unofficial status. There was to use solely the flag of the USA. On 24th of July in 1952 became that flag officially tooken over as flag of the associated free state, but it is just allowed to hoist it together with the flag of the USA. The flag of Puerto Rico has its roots in the flag of Cuba: It was created for Cuba in the year 1849 – in exactly the same design like the today's flag of Puerto Rico – by the Venezuelan General Narciso López in his New York exile for the Cuban fight for freedom. In the same year the colours of the flag became inverted by the Cuban poet Miguel Teurbe Tolon. That Cuban flag was in use for the first time at the great Anti-Spanish riot in Cuba in the year 1850. The red triangle of Masonic origin and stands for freedom, equality and brotherliness. The colour red stands for the in the struggle against the Spaniards given blood and white stands for purity, equality and peace. The white star (La Estrella Solitaria) is a symbol for freedom and equality, and should initially express that there has to add a further state to the USA. Red, white and blue are also clear references to the "Stars and Stripes" of the USA. The Puertorican division of the Cuban Revolutionar Party adoped because of solidarity with the fight for freedom of the Cubans against the Spanish in the year 1890 a flag, which corresponded in its designing to the flag of Cuba, but the colours became inverted to show a special, national and Puertorican identity. The colours of the flag are defined by law in 1952, but only as red and blue, without specifying more precisely. Since then, the triangle has been depicted in a dark blue similar to that of the United States flag. Since 1995, however, lighter shades of blue have been used. Today's colours seem to be defined from practice and could be represented as follows: Red = pt 1788, Blue = pt 2728. The flag is found in practice in a wide variety of shades.

Flag-Dispute:

The flag (and in the same way the logo) of the shipping company DSD was created in the year 1903 on the occasion of an internal competition by the helmsman Ommund Thingbø, who won the competition. The ships of the DSD were flaged accordingly and the chimneys were also painted with three red rings. Puerto Rico, which became affiliated to the United States in 1900 as a non-organized territory, claimed the rights for the design of the flag. It was assumed that the design was the same and that it had already been created in Puerto Rico in the year 1895 and thus had older rights. In the years of 1950, Puerto Rico first claimed via the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to change the flag. A court ruled that there was no break of international rules, even if the flag was in use many years before its launch in the DSD in Puerto Rico, where this flag was officially approved not until 24th of July in 1952 in occasion of the introduction of a new constitution, when Puerto Rico became an Associated Free-State of the United States (also called Dominion, or Commonwealth). However, Puerto Rico is not an independent and sovereign state until today, and its flag may be hoisted on public buildings only along with the flag of the United States. Further, the design of DSD and Puerto Rico differs from each other in a not unimportant detail. The white Star in the blue triangle in Puerto Rico is slightly smaller and straight, at DSD slightly larger and slanted.


Source/Foto: Volker Preuß, DSD-Shipping

Coat of Arms

Meaning/Origin of the Coat of Arms

Map

Numbers and Facts

History

1493 · discovery of the island by Christoph Columbus

1508 · beginning colonization by Spain under Juan Ponce de León

1511 · Indian revolt, eradication of the Indians

1518 · import of Negro slaves

1521 · foundation of San Juan (at that time: San Juan Bautista de Puerto Rico)

1815 · Puerto Rico becomes granted freedom of trade

1835 · anti-colonial revolt

1838 · anti-colonial revolt

1867–1868 · anti-colonial revolt

1873 · abolition of slavery

1897 · granting of internal autonomy

21st of April to 10th of December 1898 · Spanish-American War (1st of May 1898: victory of the USA in the sea-battle in the Manila Bay, 12th of June 1898: the Philippines proclaim the independence, June 1898: conquest of Puerto Rico by US-American troops, 3rd of July 1898: victory of the USA in the sea-battle of Santiago de Cuba, 13th of August 1898: US troops occupy Manila, 14th of August 1898: surrender of the Spanish troops on the Philippines)

10th of December 1898 · Peace of Paris, Spain cedes the Philippines, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Guam to the USA

1900 · affiliation to the USA as "non-organized territory"

1917 · granting of the citizenship of the USA and of limited self administration (Jones-Act)

1926 · anti-colonial revolt

1936–1937 · anti-colonial revolt

1948 · extension of the limited self administration (right for the election of an own governor)

1950 · armed, anti-colonial resistance

1952 · new constitution, Puerto Rico becomes an associated free state of the USA (Dominion, Commonwealth)

1967 · plebiscite, rejection of the independence with a big majority

14th of December 1973 · the UNO recognizes the right of Puerto Rico for its independence

13th of December 1998 · plebiscite: 50,2% reject an incorporation in the USA as 51st federal state

Source: Atlas zur Geschichte, Wikipedia (D), Discovery '97, Weltgeschichte

Origin of the Country's Name