Our flag was designed after the Cuban flag with the colors inverted as a sign
of solidarity with Cuba, as suggested by Lola Rodríguez de Tió.
Some celebrate Puerto Rican Flag Day on June 11th others celebrate it on
December 22. Our flag was one hundred years old in 1995. Boricuas in 1895 were
fighting for independence from Spain. Some wanted independence so that Puerto
Rico could be annexed to the United States. Some hoped Puerto Rico would come
into some sort of Antillian alliance or confederation. Both sides worked
together in one accord.
A group of Puerto Rican patriots in New York City worked on this project and
that is where our flag was born. It was then a revolutionary flag in defiance of
the Spanish reign. The reason they did not use the Lares Flag was because it
represented a defeated effort. They wanted a new flag.
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"La Borinqueña"
La tierra de Borinquen
donde he nacido yo,
es un jardín florido
de mágico primor.
Un cielo siempre nítido
que sirve de dosel
y dan arrullos plácidos
las olas a sus pies.
Cuando a sus playas llegó Colón
exclamó, lleno de admiración;
¡Oh! ¡Oh! ¡Oh!
Esta es la linda
tierra que busco yo.
Es Borinquen querida la hija,
del mar y el sol,
del mar y el sol,
del mar y el sol,
del mar y el sol,
del mar y el sol.
Letra: Manuel Fernández Juncos
Música: Ramón Collado
Autor: Félix Astol Artés
