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The flag of Puerto Rico

The flag of Puerto Rico
Five horizontal stripes, three red and two white, with a blue equilateral triangle at the hoist bearing a white five-pointed star.
Ratio 2:3 · current design adopted 1952

The design was created in New York in 1895 by exiled revolutionaries as a mirror of the Cuban flag, and flying it was effectively suppressed under the Gag Law between 1948 and 1957. It was made the official flag of the Commonwealth in 1952 with a much darker blue than the original sky blue, a change widely read as political; the lighter shade is still flown by independence supporters, so the blue you see carries meaning. Both shades are in current use and neither is incorrect. The star stands for the territory itself.

Flags it gets confused with

Flag How to tell them apart
Cuba Cuba is the same design with blue stripes and a red triangle.

What the colours mean

  • Red #EF3340 The blood that sustains the branches of government
  • White #FFFFFF Individual liberty and the rights of man
  • Blue #0050F0 The republican form of government; the triangle's three sides are its three branches

Flag laws usually specify a Pantone chip, a CMYK mix or just a colour name. Converting any of those to sRGB is lossy, which is why published hex values disagree.

Ratio
2:3
Current design adopted
1952
Colours
red, white, blue

Two blues are in simultaneous use: the 1952 official dark blue, around #0050F0, and the original sky blue of the 1895 design, around #6CACE4.

Common questions

What does the flag of Puerto Rico look like?
Five horizontal stripes, three red and two white, with a blue equilateral triangle at the hoist bearing a white five-pointed star.
What do the colours of the Puerto Rico flag mean?
Red: the blood that sustains the branches of government. White: individual liberty and the rights of man. Blue: the republican form of government; the triangle's three sides are its three branches.
How do you tell the Puerto Rico flag from the Cuba one?
Cuba is the same design with blue stripes and a red triangle.
When was the Puerto Rico flag adopted?
The current design dates from 1952, and its official ratio is 2:3.

Related pages

Sources

  1. Typical range compiled from manufacturer specifications — At One Place

How these figures are compiled and checked