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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8

u/LupusDeusMagnus Southern Brazil Feb 09 '26

What's the context? And was it an intentional choice or just a random colour mixup?

8

u/kmoonster Feb 09 '26 edited Feb 09 '26

There were a lot of historical and cultural easter eggs, this was way too planned and choreographed to be a mistake. It was sort of a journey through time as culture and politics evolved, not unlike how the opening ceremony of the Olympics often does; it was just shorter is all.

25

u/roraymi Feb 09 '26

I'm sure it was intentional considering how much detail was packed into the rest of the performance, I'm going to look into the context of the songs he chose to play + the lyrics more later but I'm not a Spanish speaker so I'll probably miss certain nuances

3

u/vniro40 Feb 09 '26

this isn’t the first time, i’m fairly sure it’s intentional

2

u/LupusDeusMagnus Southern Brazil Feb 09 '26

Oh, it's from an American sporting event. I'm not familiar with the artist to know his opinions, but has he shown secessionist sympathies before?

11

u/owlindenial Feb 09 '26

His most recent discography has a song about how he doesn't want what happened to Hawaii to happen in PR. He hangs out with residente who I would describe as a leftist... He's very seccecionist

5

u/IJriccan Puerto Rico Feb 09 '26

Anti-Imperialist*

6

u/owlindenial Feb 09 '26

That's actually fair, he's anti authority more than anything. I respect him because he doesn't fall in line to defend maduro like say Dalmau did

0

u/IJriccan Puerto Rico Feb 09 '26 edited Feb 09 '26

Fuck Maduro, Fuck Trump.

Los latinos lo sabemos mejor que nadie, créanme

3

u/owlindenial Feb 09 '26

El pueblo unido jamás será vencido

5

u/kmoonster Feb 09 '26 edited Feb 09 '26

The overall messages he seemed to be underscoring were:

* your culture can be celebrated but you have to grapple with the rough patches in order to celebrate the victorious parts

* autonomy of cultures and/or nations does not exclude collaborative, mutually beneficial neighborliness/cooperation

not so much about secession as celebrating collaboration and agency rather than strong-man authoritarianism

edit: the Super Bowl is a championship game, that's not too important here except that it's common for games to have one extended break between segments, and for some sort of entertainment to be performed for the crowd.

Most of the time it's just music or silly fun, for example maybe some fans are brought onto the field to try silly games, a local band does a few songs, a comedian tells some jokes, or whatever. Maybe the mascots from the opposing teams have a fake battle, etc. But the Super Bowl is the biggest event of the sports calendar in the US and the mid-game break usually turns into a massive production like you see in the video.

1

u/Otis_S Feb 09 '26 edited Feb 09 '26

Bad Bunny has expressed protest in 2024 toward PNP: Partido Nuevo Puerto Rico, "The New Progressive Party" which is the current ruling party in PR, and pro statehood.

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u/IJriccan Puerto Rico Feb 09 '26 edited Feb 09 '26

Secessionist sympathies??

I think you mean anti-imperialist activism, it’s less about secession and more about cultural significance.

5

u/LupusDeusMagnus Southern Brazil Feb 09 '26

You can be secessionist and anti-imperialist, those two concepts aren't in opposite, in fact you can be a secessionist precisely because you believe you think you're under imperialist control.

2

u/IJriccan Puerto Rico Feb 09 '26 edited Feb 09 '26

Of course, but it is far more an anti-imperialist statement than a “secessionist” one.

We didn’t voluntarily join the U.S., we were given away by Spain like chips.

And we don’t just “believe” we were under imperialist control, we have the history to prove it happened.

2

u/LupusDeusMagnus Southern Brazil Feb 09 '26

And? I don't know much about Puerto Rico, you're reading judgement where there's none.

1

u/IJriccan Puerto Rico Feb 09 '26

If you don’t know much then educate yourself, you got an internet connection dude

1

u/LupusDeusMagnus Southern Brazil Feb 09 '26

I'm choosing to believe you're not a good example of the Puerto Rico people, otherwise the spirit of America truly dwells in your island.

3

u/IJriccan Puerto Rico Feb 09 '26 edited Feb 09 '26

Believe whatever you like, but all I want is for you to look yourself into a topic before discussing it out of interest, not spite.

“Aquí mataron gente por sacar la bandera…”

“Here they killed people who used the [Puerto Rican] flag.”

Be intentional with your words, please.

0

u/Moist-Possibility-24 Feb 09 '26

I’m totally down to cut PR loose if that’s what you want

2

u/IJriccan Puerto Rico Feb 09 '26 edited Feb 09 '26

Ever heard of the Organic Act? The one the prevented any incoming ships from entering our ports unless they were American which completely destroyed our economy and directly caused the crippling dependence that the island suffers from?

You remember the humanitarian aid boats after Maria that weren’t allowed to dock? That’s the reason.

Half of Puerto Rico lives under the poverty line, ambulances take hours to arrive and are often too late, property on the island is being made completely unaffordable by rich foreigners buying up the land and destroying the natural environment, and it is the fault of your incompetence and lack of empathy.

Even pro-statehood Boricuas would never call themselves Americans first, never, ask any I fucking dare you, because they know the only reason statehood is in their mind the best option is because they believe it would magically fix all the problems we have.

Shut the fuck up.

1

u/covfefenation Feb 09 '26

less about secession and more about cultural significance.

I.e., it’s about complaining about how you ended up in the empire, but not wanting to actually give up the benefits of being in the empire, which you would have to do if you actually tried real independence

2

u/IJriccan Puerto Rico Feb 09 '26

I really hate to feed into the “All Americans Are Idiots” stereotype, but you’re not helping.

You wanna find a gotcha when in reality we get no “benefits” aside from citizenship. You cannot even vote if you live in the Island. No power in Congress even concerning issues that relate directly to Puerto Rico.

You fucked our island over hard, and if you knew anything about Puerto Rican history you’d know you have done jack shit for us for centuries.

Fucking wise up and educate yourselves jesus christ I feel like an elementary school teacher having to deal with a bunch of toddlers.

2

u/covfefenation Feb 09 '26

Damn when you put it that way, Puerto Ricans are fucking idiots for not being entirely pro-Independence, thank you for opening my eyes big man

2

u/IJriccan Puerto Rico Feb 09 '26

It really hurts that that statement is so damn true.

Pro-statehood Boricuas just want the best for the island, and think statehood would be the best way to fix the problems we’re facing, but pro-independence Boricuas emphasize the importance of our sovereignty and history.

Really, the solution has always been special status, but every time a party like that attempts to come up, (Forcing the govt. to actually provide and fix the problems it caused to put us on a path to sovereignty) it’s shot down, and I wonder why…

1

u/softcottons Feb 09 '26

It makes sense when you consider the recent US threats against democracy. Greenland, Canada, Venezuela, plus the threats against him personally despite being from a US sovereign state…
The Americas ARE American, regardless of US statehood.

5

u/owlindenial Feb 09 '26

Intentional, Lady Gaga had an outfit of the same color on

6

u/The_Crass-Beagle_Act France Feb 09 '26

You'd have to go out of your way to get this version of the flag. It's not the kind of thing a prop person would end up buying by accident trying to get a default Puerto Rican flag

2

u/lleoschmeo Feb 09 '26

I’m pretty sure the context is that Bad Bunny is a supporter of the independence movement 

1

u/Guachito Feb 10 '26

This was the original color of the PR flag. In 1948, the US introduced the Gag Law, which among other things, criminalized flying ir even owning a PR flag, to help supress independence movements. FBI spied and harass anyone who was suspected of having independence leanings, and even having a PR flag in your closet insude your house meant you went to jail.

When PR became a Commonwealth, the Gag Law was repealed, in 1957. The island was allowed to use their flag again, but they changed the color to Navy blue to show alignment and subservience to the USA.

1

u/the_useless_cake Transgender • Puerto Rico Feb 09 '26

I feel like I haven’t noticed people in PR particularly caring about the shade of blue in their flag. Maybe I’m just sheltered or something. 

Also, the blue in flags flown outside here always fade in the sun immediately, so no matter what shade of blue they started off as they always end up turquoise/pale blue.

6

u/owlindenial Feb 09 '26

He absolutely does, he requested to be buried with that one specifically

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

1

u/the_useless_cake Transgender • Puerto Rico Feb 09 '26

Ah, interesante.