Puerto Rico Flags

The Puerto Rican flag is made up of three colors: red, white, and blue. The flag is comprised of horizontal stripes of red and white. The red color is on the top, center, and bottom stripe while the other remaining two stripes are white. On the left side of the flag there is a five-pointed star on the blue triangle pointing inwards. The current Puerto Rican flag was officially adopted in 1952.

The three colors of the flag are red, white, and blue. Each color has a meaning. The three horizontal red stripes symbolize the blood shed by the brave warriors. The three-sided triangle pointing inwards on the hoist side of the flag represents the three arms of the government, while the blue color represents the color of the ocean and the skies of Puerto Rico. The white star stands for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico while the two white horizontal stripes represent individual liberty and rights or victory and peace gained after independence. The meaning of the colors of the flag has changed over the years. Additionally, different tone colors of blue have been used in the flags since there is no single tone specified for the flag.

The first Puerto Rican flag was designed by the leader of the Revolutionary Committee who was in exile in 1895 in New York. While in exile the committee adopted the "Revolutionary Flag of Lares" as the Puerto Rican flag. It was designed by independence leader Ramon Emeterio Betances and was embrodered by Mariana Bracetti. The independence leader designed the flag in resemblance with the Dominican Republic’s flag, inspired by the idea of being free from Spain. The flag was later made official by Francisco Ramirez Medina, who was the first president of Puerto Rico. It is from the first design that the flag has been redesigned to the current flag.

Puerto Rico flag’s design has undergone several changes from the first design made by the independence leader. Currently, the flag resembles that of the Dominican Republic. The first flag tone for the blue triangle was sky blue and is the most preferred color by the government. The first design was rectangular with quarters consisting of blue, white and red. It did not have the current triangular shape pointing inwards. The five-pointed star was also in the top left quarter.