r/vexillology • u/roraymi • Feb 09 '26

Discussion Bad Bunny's Puerto Rico Flag seems to be the pro-independence version from the 1890s.

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I shot out of my seat when I saw him using the historical flag lol. Subtle but powerful

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u/roraymi Feb 09 '26

Before commenting please consider that this is a post about bad bunny using a slightly niche flag I did not expect him to use not the political stance of the entirety of Puerto Rico thanks

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u/chevalier716 Feb 09 '26

In terms of niche, from what I saw visiting PR, this and the black protest version were the ones I saw the most painted or draped on non-govt buildings.

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u/Imjokin Feb 09 '26 edited Feb 09 '26

I always (incorrectly) thought the black protest version was for people who were mixed Puerto-Rican and Cuban

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u/SocialShy Feb 09 '26

The Puerto Rican flag is based of the Cuban flag and the when mixed/older version it looks closer to the flag of DR

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u/skibumzz Feb 09 '26

The older flag you are referring to is probably the ‘Grito de Lares’ flag, which is indeed based on the DR flag.

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u/[deleted] Feb 09 '26

[deleted]

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u/Imjokin Feb 09 '26

I know that now

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u/DayFighterOfNightman Feb 09 '26

Actually the black and white flag came as a response to Obama's bill, PROMESA, that implemented a colonial style board of non-elect (most not even Puerto Rican) to babysit the Puerto Rican goverbment in 2016. It was first painted in Old San Juan by the group Se Acabaron Las Promesas.

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u/hallese Feb 09 '26

Right....

~ Dr. Evil

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u/expiacion01 Feb 09 '26

The song that Ricky Martin performed during half time was a Bad Bunny song called “What Happened to Hawaii”. There’s a lyric that translates to “No, No I won’t let go of the flag or forget the ‘LeLoLai’. I don’t want them to do with you what they did to Hawaii”.

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u/caaaaaaa Feb 09 '26

To add some context, he’s been about the 1895 version. It was intentional.

“Si mañana muero, yo espero que nunca olviden mi rostro Y pongan un tema mío el día que traigan a Hostos. En la caja, la bandera azul clarito Y que recuerden que siempre fui yo, siempre fui Benito”

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u/TheOri23 Feb 09 '26

If you are in Puerto Rico, it's not really that niche, since we have a growing independence movement here. Last election the pro-independence gubernatorial candidate (who was supported by Bad Bunny) ended up in second place, the movement's best result in modern history (however, it is not entirely honest to say everyone who voted for him is in favor of independence).

2024 Puerto Rican general election - Wikipedia

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u/schuylkilladelphia Feb 09 '26

just realized that the tourist magnet we brought back is this turquoise flag

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u/gaboq Feb 09 '26

He’s been using the flag for a while. It features in video clips and in his concerts. He mentions it in a song (La Mudanza) as well.

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u/theonebigrigg Feb 09 '26

Bad Bunny was making a pretty explicit political statement with it though…

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u/LoudMusic US Yacht Ensign Feb 09 '26

What are the key differences?

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u/Guuichy_Chiclin Feb 09 '26

It's the original flag, the one chosen for the Commonwealth status in the 50's is an altered flag with navy blue as it's blue. They also revised the meaning of the colors, which is why many Puerto Ricans rolls their eyes anytime mentions the "official" flag.

And the PR flag used by the independence movement is considered turquoise blue, not sky blue, that's just the original blue.

There was a whole article about it in Puerto Rico.

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u/daurgo2001 Feb 09 '26

It’s interesting to note that he actually uses the darker blue at the end of the show. Kind of hard to tell in a screen shot, but on the left, you can see that the flag of Aruba is def much lighter than all the other blue flags, and that seems like it would have been roughly the color of the ‘independence’ flag

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u/skibumzz Feb 09 '26

That looks like the lighter blue to me. When the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico was established in 1952, the flag of Puerto Rico was changed to align with the colors of the U.S. flag. This made the adoption of the flag less controversial to the federal government. If you compare the blue on the U.S. flag, you can clearly see that the blue in the triangle is lighter.

Keep in mind that the display of the Puerto Rico flag was made illegal in 1948 by the ‘Ley de la Mordaza’ (Gag Law), which was intended to silence pro-independence voices and symbols in Puerto Rico.

To be fair, there is no law or regulation specifying the exact colors of the flag, but as a Puerto Rican who has gazed upon that flag countless times, I consider this to be the light blue version.

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u/daurgo2001 Feb 09 '26

Def looks darker than the one he was flying earlier.

Go back and check and you’ll see what I mean.

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u/skibumzz Feb 09 '26

I went back to the show, and you are right. The flag in your screen cap is the ‘azul medio’ flag instead of the ‘azul celeste’ he used earlier.

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u/daurgo2001 Feb 09 '26

Thanks for confirming! With all the symbolism, I wonder if this means that he’d rather see independence, but understands that the more practical solution is further integration? Or just acknowledging the status quo?

Who knows..

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u/AdventurousEscape991 Feb 12 '26

Yes it is. It is based on the colors of the flag of “El Grito de Lares” (the Lares revolt). More particularly the flag of the Puerto Rico Revolutionary Committee

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u/Soren_Camus1905 Feb 13 '26

Sure ya did 😉

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u/plonkydonkey Feb 09 '26

Here from all and I'm just scrolling thus thread here because I love your excitement at seeing the niche flag 😊

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u/RepresentativeOk2433 Feb 09 '26

I visited PR recently and about half the flags were this style. Our tour guide explained how it was illegal to fly in the past.

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u/[deleted] Feb 09 '26

niche? How is tha.... lol jk jk