Catalonia, a part of Spain that has been agitating for independence, uses several different flags to symbolize its movement. One looks a lot like Puerto Rico’s flag. What’s that about? It turns out that Catalonia’s Estelada flag was actually inspired by the flags of Puerto Rico and Cuba, the original source of the design.
How is Cuba involved?
Cuba had a strong independence movement during its time as a Spanish colony. The United States supported Cuba’s fight for independence, a stance which led to the Spanish-American War when the U.S. came to believe that Spain had caused an explosion on the U.S. battleship the Maine in Havana. “Remember the Maine!” was a common slogan in support of the war.
Catalonians were watching Cuba’s efforts to separate from Spain. Cuba, then as now, wanted independence not only for itself, but for many other places, and Catalonia was one of them. The flag of Catalonia before it became part of Spain in 1713 was “les quatres barres” — the four red stripes on a yellow ground. Cuba’s flag was designed in 1849, and Puerto Rico adopted its flag with the same shapes but opposite colors in 1892. In both cases, the triangle was intended to stand for republican principles and the single star for independence.
The stripes may have been inspired by the old Catalan flag, since those stripes were adopted, with changing colors, by the British East India Company, then England, and then the United States.
The birth of the Estalada
In 1918, Vicenç Albert Ballester was inspired by Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the United States to create a new flag for Catalonia: the Estelada. Following World War I and the establishment of the League of Nations, the time seemed ripe to separate Catalonia from Spain. He used the old Catalonia four bars flag in combination with Puerto Rico’s white star on a blue ground. Another version of the flag uses the old Catalonia striped flag in combination with Cuba’s white star on a red background.
Catalonia felt kinship with Cuba and Puerto Rico, two former Spanish colonies which had fought for independence from Spain. Catalonia, feeling that they also had a colonial relationship with Spain, wanted to emulate their sister colonies and separate from Spain. They were asking for help in this from the United States, a former British colony which gained independence. The U.S. also helped to liberate both Puerto Rico and Cuba from Spain — but has held onto Puerto Rico ever since.
The later flag
In the later 20th century, communist and socialist elements in the Catalonian independence movement changed the colors of their version of the Estalada to red and yellow, symbolizing communism. Other factions went with all red and yellow to reject capitalism.
The overall design continues to echo Puerto Rico, and various color schemes can be seen among today’s Catalonian separatists.
Where does Puerto Rico come in?
The flag with the blue triangle, which is popular in Catalonia today, symbolizes a desire to separate from Spain. The choice to combine Puerto Rico’s flag with the older flag of Catalan-speaking regions recognizes Puerto Rico’s independence from Spain and the aspirational goal for Catalonia to similarly leave the nation of Spain.
Images courtesy of Huhsunqu and Pere prlpz
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