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| Adopted | Composition of the flag based on the current, government-recognized flag of themunicipality of Lares,[1] the town that adopted thestandard of theGrito de Lares revolt after it took place in its territory |
|---|---|
.svg)
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| Adopted | Composition of the flag based on the current flag of themunicipality of Lares[1] and theGrito de Lares flag exhibited at theMuseum of the Army in Spain since 2022 |
.svg) AuthenticGrito de Lares Flag (1868) | |
| Adopted | September 23, 1868; 157 years ago (1868-09-23) by members of theRevolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico; mentioned in 1872 in the chronicleHistoria de la insurrección de Lares by José Pérez Moris,[2][3] its originality is authenticated by a writtenprimary source [4][5] |
.svg)
| |
| Adopted | Composition of the flag based on the current flag of themunicipality of Lares[1] and theGrito de Lares flag exhibited at theMuseum of History, Anthropology and Art of the University of Puerto Rico since 1954 |
.svg) InauthenticGrito de Lares Flag (1868) | |
| Use |  |
| Proportion | 2:3 |
| Adopted | September 23, 1868; 157 years ago (1868-09-23) by members of theRevolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico; with no writtenprimary sources authenticating it, its originality is disputed, with most historians recognizing it as a forgery possibly made by theNationalist Party of Puerto Rico in the 1930s based on contemporaneous butsecondaryoral sources [6][7] |
| Design | Consists of a large whiteGreek cross in the center that extends to all four sides of the flag, dividing it into four equal rectangles, two blue above, the left of which bears a large, sharp, upright, centered,five-pointed white star, and two red below;See specifications inColors andDimensions |
| Designed by | Ramón Emeterio Betances in 1868; based on theDominican flag byJuan Pablo Duarte in 1844, andCuban flag by VenezuelanNarciso López and CubanMiguel Teurbe Tolón in 1849 |
%5B%5BWP%3ACSD%23G6%7CG6%5D%5D%3A+%5B%5BWikipedia%3ATemplates+for+discussion%2FLog%2F2025+November+5%23Template%3AGrito+de+Lares+flag%5D%5D{{{CRITERION}}}
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TheGrito de Lares flag (Spanish:Bandera del Grito de Lares), most commonly known as theLares flag (Spanish:Bandera de Lares), represents theGrito de Lares (Cry of Lares) revolt of 1868, the first oftwo short-livedrebellions againstSpanish rule inPuerto Rico. It consists of a large whiteGreek cross in the center that extends to all four sides of the flag, dividing it into four equal rectangles, two blue above, the left of which bears a large, sharp, upright, centered,five-pointed white star, and two red below. The white star stands for liberty and freedom, the red rectangles for the blood poured by the heroes of the revolt, and the white cross for the yearning of homeland redemption.[8][9][10] Established in themunicipality ofLares 27 years beforerevolutionaries adopted thecurrent flag of Puerto Rico inNew York City, the flag of the revolt is recognized as the first flag of thearchipelago and island.[11]
Today, the flag is the official flag of themunicipality of Lares, location of theGrito de Lares (Cry of Lares) revolt in 1868. The flag is used to show support for Puerto Ricanindependence from the United States, rejecting other alternatives on the issue ofPuerto Rico's political status, namelystatehood or integration into the U.S. as a state, and the current intermediary status ofcommonwealth as anunincorporated and organized U.S. territory.
In 1868, Puerto Rican pro-independence leaderRamón Emeterio Betances urged Eduviges Beauchamp Sterling[12] to sew and embroider the revolutionary flag of theGrito de Lares (Cry of Lares), thestandard of the first oftwo short-lived revolts againstSpanish rule in the main island, using as design the quartered flag of theFirst Dominican Republic, which was inspired by theHaitian andFrench flags, and based on theregimental flags of theKingdom of France, and the lone star of theCuban flag of theGrito de Yara (Cry of Yara) revolt at thesugar plantation andmill ofLa Demajagua inCuba.
The fusion of the Dominican and Cuban flags to make the Lares flag was aimed at promoting the union of the neighboringSpanish-speakingGreater Antilles—the single-nation islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic in the two-nation island ofHispaniola—into anAntillean Confederation for the protection and preservation of their sovereignty and interests.[13][14][15]
In 1868, after theGrito de Lares (Cry of Lares) revolt,Francisco Ramírez Medina, having been sworn in as the first president of Puerto Rico by the revolutionaries, intended to proclaim the Lares flag as the national flag of the free and independent "Republic of Puerto Rico." Marking the establishment of a national consciousness for the first time in Puerto Rico, it is recognized as the first flag of thearchipelago and island.[11]
Only one flag of theGrito de Lares (Cry of Lares) revolt and independent "Republic of Puerto Rico" has been authenticated as original by writtenprimary sources. The flag is quartered by a centered white cross, with two deep red squares on thefly side and two dark blue squares on thehoist side, the top of which bears a tiled, sharp, centered, five-pointed white star.[16][4]
In 1868, the flag was captured by the Spanish leader in charged of the repression against the revolutionaries,Colonel Manuel Iturriaga, after it was discovered buried in one of two wooden boxes alongside hundreds of cartridges for rifles on the coffee farm of a rebel named José Antonio Hernández in thePiedra Gordabarrio (then known as Palomar) ofCamuy, atown immediately to north ofLares.[5][17]
In 1872, Spanish telegrapher and journalist José Manuel Pérez Moris, a contemporary who had migrated to Puerto Rico from Cuba in 1869, described the flag in his chronicle about the revolt,Historia de la Insurrección de Lares (History of the Insurrection of Lares), as follows:[3]
"Es una bandera puertorriqueña de los independientes de Lares…la bandera, aunque tiene los colores y la estrella de la llamada Cubana, se diferencia de aquella…el cuerpo de ella lo forma una cruz latina blanca que la atraviesa entera en su longitud y latitud…los cuatro ángulos rectos que deja la cruz blanca arriba y abajo, los ocupan otros tantos cuadriláteros de color azul los primeros, y de color punzó los segundos. En uno de los cuadriláteros azules, en el de la derecha, hay una magnifica estrella blanca, bordada…"
which, translated inEnglish, reads as:
"It is a Puerto Rican flag of the independents of Lares…the flag, although it has the colors and the star of the so-called Cuban flag, differs from that one…its body is formed by a white Latin cross that crosses it entirely in length and width…the four right angles left by the white cross above and below are occupied by four quadrilaterals, the first ones blue, and the second ones crimson. In one of the blue quadrilaterals, on the right, there is a magnificent white star, embroidered…"
In 1908, after the death of Iturriaga inSpain, the flag was donated by his son to theMuseo de Artillería (Museum of the Artillery) inMadrid, alongside a copy ofHistoria de la Insurrección de Lares (History of the Insurrection of Lares) autographed by Pérez Moris, who had dedicated the book to Iturriaga. The flag was later transferred to theMuseo del Ejército (Museum of the Army) in Madrid.[16]
In 1931, Spanish-Puerto Rican historian Enrique Tomás Blanco Géigel described the flag in an article for the magazineAlma Latina titledLa Bandera de Puerto Rico (The Flag of Puerto Rico). A picture of the second graduating class of the law school at theUniversity of Puerto Rico holding a replica of the flag is featured in the publication.[16] Blanco’s description of the flag is as follows:
"La bandera de Lares… enterrada en el barrio del Palomar por Hernández…tuvo su origen en ladominicana y en la de laDemajagua de Cuba, semejante a la deChile, y en ella, los dos cuarteles azules iban colocados en el extremo inmediato al asta, con una estrella blanca de cinco puntas en el superior, y los dos cuarteles rojos en el extremo opuesto. Una cruz blanca la atravesaba en toda su longitud y latitud…"
which, translated inEnglish, reads as:
"The flag of Lares…buried in the Palomar neighborhood by Hernández…had its origin in theDominican and in that of theDemajagua of Cuba, similar to that ofChile, and in it, the two blue quarters were placed at the end closest to the pole, with a five-pointed white star at the top, and the two red quarters at the opposite end. A white cross crossed it in all its length and width…"
In 1970, Puerto Rican scholar and head of theInstitute of Puerto Rican Culture at the University of Puerto Rico,Ricardo Alegría, requested and received pictures of the flag from Spanish historian Juan Manuel Zapatero at the (Museum of the Army) in Madrid. However, Alegría did not produce any official documentation of the flag.[16]
Since 2010, the flag has been exhibited inToledo, Spain, which is where theMuseum of the Army relocated. In 2020, Luis Sorando Muzás, expert invexilology and advisor to the Museum of the Army, published the flag as part of a catalog on the flags and banners in the museum.[4]
In 2023, Puerto Rican investigative historian and founder of theArchivo Digital Nacional de Puerto Rico (ADNPR) (National Digital Archive of Puerto Rico), Joseph Harrison Flores, described the flag as"la verdadera bandera de Lares" ("the real flag of Lares"). In his bookLa Indentidad de Brazo de Oro ("The Identity of the Golden Arm"), Harrison Flores identified the flag as the original one created by the revolutionary forces of the “Republic of Puerto Rico” that was to be born from theGrito de Lares (Cry of Lares) revolt in 1868, as its authenticity is proven by written primary sources.[4][5][17]
A second flag claimed to have been used during theGrito de Lares (Cry of Lares) revolt is in the possession of the University of Puerto Rico. While widely accepted as the original flag of the revolt and independent "Republic of Puerto Rico," the flag has not only never been authenticated by written primary sources, but it has also been discredited as a forgery. The flag is quartered by a centered white cross, with two bottom red rectangles and two top light blue rectangles, the left of which bears a tiled, centered, five-pointed white star.[6]
In 1954, the flag, a poster of the revolutionaries, and a map of the main island depicting military operational plans for the revolt were acquired by theMuseum of History, Anthropology and Art of the University of Puerto Rico inRío Piedras, Puerto Rico fromFordham University inNew York City. With the arrival of the flag and supporting documents, the director of the museum, scholarRicardo Alegría, prepared a press release, which is the only document available that explains the supposed origins of the flag. According to Alegría, the flag was taken from the altar of the San José Parish inLares byCabo Rojo mayor, Captain José de Perignat, who kept it until his family donated it to Fordham University.
In 1937, the flag was offered for sale to the government of theDominican Republic. After his evaluation of the flag,Robert H. Todd, Puerto Rican revolutionary leader who was a member ofRevolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico, presented his findings in anEl Mundo article titled"Han intentado vender en Santo Domingo una supuesta bandera de Lares” ("They have tried to sell a supposed Lares flag in Santo Domingo"). Todd dismissed the flag as fake, labeling it"apócrifa" ("apocryphal"). The Dominican Academy of History agreed with Todd's conclusion that"la bandera obra de la incoerente tradición…no resiste una sola de las pruebas a que se le somete" ("The flag, the work of inconsistent tradition...does not withstand a single one of the tests to which it is subjected").
Since 1954, the content of the press release by Alegría has been popularly elevated to a historic fact by subsequent repetition in textbooks, essays, political speeches, and commemorative acts. However, in 2023, Puerto Rican investigative historian and founder of theArchivo Digital Nacional de Puerto Rico (ADNPR) (National Digital Archive of Puerto Rico), Joseph Harrison Flores, explained in his bookLa Indentidad de Brazo de Oro ("The Identity of the Golden Arm") that while the account presented by Alegría is preeminently established in thecollective memory of the people of Puerto Rico, there is no documentary evidence to authenticate the flag nor its history.[5]
Other historians claim that despite the absence ofprimary sources to validate the flag, there is a longoral tradition of testimonies that authenticate it.[7]
TheGrito de Lares flag was replaced by a new revolutionary flag, which is thecurrent flag of Puerto Rico. In December 1895, Juan de Mata Terreforte and other exiled Puerto Rican revolutionaries, many of them veterans of theGrito de Lares (Cry of Lares) revolt who fought alongside commanderManuel Rojas Luzardo, re-established theRevolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico under the nameSección Puerto Rico del Partido Revolucionario Cubano (Puerto Rico Section of the Cuban Revolutionary Party) as part of theCuban Revolutionary Party in New York City, where they continued to advocate for Puerto Rican independence from Spain with the support of Cuban national heroJosé Martí and other Cuban exiles, who similarly began their struggle for self-determination in 1868 when theGrito deYara(Cry of Yara) revolt triggered theTen Years' War (Guerra de los Diez Años) for independence againstSpanish rule in Cuba, which, along withPuerto Rico, represented all that remained from Spain's once extensiveAmerican empire since1825.
Determined to affirm the strong bonds existing between Cuban and Puerto Rican revolutionaries, and the union of Cuban and Puerto Rican struggles for nationalindependence and fights against Spanish colonialism, on December 22, with the knowledge and approval of their fellow Cuban rebels, Terreforte, vice-president of the committee, and around fifty-eight fellow members gathered at the no longer existentChimney Corner Hall inManhattan, unanimously adopted the Cuban flag with colors inverted as the new revolutionary flag to represent asovereign "Republic of Puerto Rico", replacing the Lares flag, which had been used by revolutionaries as the flag of a prospective independent Puerto Rico since their attempt at self-determination in1868, but was eventually rejected, as it represented a failed revolt, a sentiment strongly supported byLola Rodríguez de Tío, Puerto Rican poet, pro-independence leader, and committee member, who spent her later life exiled in liberated Cuba.[19][20]
In 1868, Puerto Rican pro-independence leaderRamón Emeterio Betances, urged Eduviges Beauchamp Sterling to knit the revolutionary flag of theGrito de Lares (Cry of Lares), using as design the quartered flag of theFirst Dominican Republic and the lone star of theCuban flag, with the aim of promoting Betances' idea of uniting the three neighboringSpanish-speaking CaribbeanGreater Antilles of Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic into anAntillean Confederation for the protection and preservation of their sovereignty and interests.
According to Puerto Rican poetLuis Lloréns Torres, the white cross stands for the yearning of homeland redemption, the red rectangles for the blood poured by the heroes of the revolt, and the white star for liberty and freedom.[8][21][22] It is assumed that like the blue triangle on thecurrent of Puerto Rico, the blue rectangles represent the sky and waters of theisland.
No official document inPuerto Rico provides the exact dimensions of the flag's shape, cross, and five-pointed star. While the exact proportions of the flag have not been established by law, the most commonly used and widely accepted layout of the flag is as follows:[1]
At a length-to-width ratio of 2:3, the shape of the flag is rectangular, one and a half times longer than wide, composed of four equal rectangles, two blue on the top, the left of which bears a large, sharp, upright, centered, five-pointed white star which diameter is one-third of the flag width, and two red on the bottom, all four being nine-fourths of the flag length and twelves-fifths of the flag width, and a large white greek cross in the center touching all four sides of the flag, with its vertical post width being one-ninth of the flag length and horizontal crossbar width one-sixth of the flag width.
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Most representations of the flag follow these specifications, with the components likely to vary being the size of the cross and star. The width of the cross is occasionally displayed bigger than the most commonly used size of one-ninth (1⁄9) of the flag length for its vertical post width and one-sixth (1⁄6) of the flag width for its horizontal crossbar width, and the diameter of the star is occasionally displayed smaller than the most commonly used size of one-third (1⁄3) of the flag width.
No official document inPuerto Rico provides the colors of the flag. While the exact colors of the flag have not been established by law, below are the most commonly used color shades.[1][23] The intensity of both blue and red color shades changes to keep them complementary to each other.
Medium blue, or royal blue,Grito de Lares flag, matching thecurrent flag of Puerto Rico andLares, uses the following color shades:[1]
Colors scheme | Blue | Red | White |
|---|---|---|---|
| RGB | 868,255 | 237,0,0 | 255-255-255 |
| Hexadecimal | #0044ff | #ed0000 | #ffffff |
| CMYK | 100-73-0-0 | 0-100-100-7 | 0-0-0-0 |
| Pantone | 285 C | 2347 C | 11-0601 TX Bright White |
Dark blue, or navy blue,Grito de Lares flag, matching thedark blue flag of Puerto Rico and theoriginal dark blueGrito de Lares flag exhibited in Spain, one of two original versions of the flag available today, uses the following color shades:
Colors scheme | Blue | Red | White |
|---|---|---|---|
| RGB | 056,167 | 206,17,39 | 255-255-255 |
| Hexadecimal | #0038a7 | #ce1127 | #ffffff |
| CMYK | 100-66-0-35 | 0-92-81-19 | 0-0-0-0 |
| Pantone | 293 C | 186 C | 11-0601 TX Bright White |
The light blueGrito de Lares flag has become increasingly popular in recent years. Today, most representations of the flag feature alight sky blue color shade, matching the light blue color shade of thelight blueGrito de Lares flag exhibited in Puerto Rico.[23]
Light blue, or sky blue, variation of light blueGrito de Lares flag matching the colors of thelight blue flag of Puerto Rico and the light blueGrito de Lares flag exhibited in Puerto Rico, one of two original versions of the flag available today, uses the following color shades:
Colors scheme | Blue | Red | White |
|---|---|---|---|
| RGB | 135-206-250 | 206-0-0 | 255-255-255 |
| Hexadecimal | #87CEFA | #CE0000 | #ffffff |
| CMYK | 46-18-0-2 | 0-100-100-19 | 0-0-0-0 |
| Pantone | 2905 U | 3517 C | 11-0601 TX Bright White |
