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The Cuban flag, a symbol of the nation.
The Cuban Flag, also known as the Lone Star Flag, is next to the Shield of the Royal Palm and the Bayamo Hymn, another of the symbols of the Caribbean nation.
Although there are three, it is the flag that most represents Cuba internationally. A symbol of loyalty, respect and honor has accompanied in all his designs the great moments of the country.
Her story.
The Cuban flag was raised for the first time in Cárdenas, in the city of Cárdenas, Matanzas province, on May 19, 1850. There is a monument to the flag and to that historic date.
The current one was devised by the Venezuelan military man Narciso López and designed by the poet Miguel Teurbe Tolón in 1849. It presided over all the acts of the independence movement from April 11, 1869 in the Assembly of Guáimaro.
The flag of Cuba was made official as a national symbol in 1906 by Tomás Estrada Palma, the first President of the Republic of Cuba, through a Decree of the current Cuban Constitution of 1976.
Its colors symbolize various things. The three blue stripes represent the political division of Cuba in the West, Center and East, the two white stripes the purity of the Cuban people, and the red triangle has a Masonic symbolism, it represents divinity and perfection also means the blood that was spilled by the patriots. The star refers to the union of all Cubans.
Other flags.
It tells the story that Cuba has had 11 flags since its creation. A group of Cubans in New York agreed that they would keep that of The Lone Star, made by a cousin and wife of Teurbe Toulon, Emilia. It is not the same as the original, the blue color was light blue, not turquoise, as it is today.
This first flag in New York covered the coffin with the mortal remains of the former President of the Republic of Cuba in Arms, Francisco Vicente Aguilera, in February 1877, an idea of Juan Manuel Macías, one of Cárdenas’s expeditionaries, the guardian of the first flag that flew on Cuban soil.
Carlos Manuel de Céspedes flag
Carlos Manuel de Céspedes designed and presented a flag on the morning of October 10, 1868 to his followers.He combined three fields, one red and one white in the upper half and light blue in the lower half, with a five-pointed white star. on the red box. Very similar to that of Chile, a country that supported the liberation of Cuba.
On October 9, 1868, after several inconveniences, they made it with a blue dress, a piece of mosquito net and a piece of white cloth. Measured after finished, the star, was fixed on a white cloth, by means of pins, cut it out and then sewn it to the flag.
This flag was with Cespedes until 1871 to take to the United States. Ana de Quesada, his wife, kept her for 30 years, she handed it over to the House of Representatives.
At the moment, this flag is found in the Hall of the Flags in the Palace of the General Captains, Havana City and guarded by the group of that institution led by Doctor Eusebio Leal Spengler.
What is the current Cuban flag like?
It is rectangular, twice as long as it is wide, with five horizontal stripes of the same width, three turquoise blue and two white stripes arranged alternately. An equilateral triangle of red color, at one of its ends, one of whose sides is vertical, occupies the entire height of the flag and constitutes its fixed edge.
Within its design, the three blue stripes represent the departments into which the island was divided at that time: East, Center and West, and the two white stripes symbolize the strength and purity of the Cuban independence ideal.
The red triangle has three equal sides and represents equality, freedom and brotherhood, it represents the blood spilled in the independence struggles.
The white five-pointed star in the center of the triangle is positioned with one point upward to demonstrate independence and signals the country’s freedom.
Hoisting it leaves a space up to the tip of the pole, meaning the territory occupied by the Guantánamo Naval Base, still in the hands of the United States. When there is national mourning, it is raised at half mast.
Uses and prohibitions.
Regulatory uses.
It flies in the headquarters of Organs, Organisms, and other Institutions of the State and of political, social and mass Organizations.
In poles located on the outside of the three-meter buildings and inside the premises of the buildings, three or one meter eighty.
Without pole in horizontal or vertical position, hanging or on the wall, behind the rostrum or presidency of official, commemorative or patriotic acts, as well as to decorate streets and houses.
In educational centers, both in the exterior and interior pole or without pole in horizontal or vertical position, one meter eighty centimeters or one meter twenty centimeters on the wall or in correspondence with the size of the place of the building.
For parades and ceremonies one meter eighty centimeters and the edges adorned with six-centimeter gold fringes, the shaft will be two meters sixty centimeters long, including the lance and the spit, and will have a twisted cord two meters ten centimeters long with thread in turquoise blue, white and red, which will end in two tassels of the same colors.
In acts of heads of Cuban Diplomatic Missions and Consulates abroad, forty centimeters.
In a parade, if our flag is accompanied by another, it will go to the right, if there were several that accompany it, it will go to the head of the others and in the center.
If you preside over a room, it will be placed to the right of the rostrum, if there is a speaker it will always be placed to your right.
If it is hoisted next to the Flag of other Countries it will be placed in the center and will be the highest.
If the point of the star is attached to the wall, it must be free, it will point north or east, if the position of the Flag is vertical, if it is horizontal, the triangle will appear to the right in relation to the wall, the point of the star always directed upwards.
Also in many cases the Flag covers the coffin of members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces for their revolutionary merits are veiled, with military honors, in this case the triangle will remain at the head of the coffin without touching the ground.
When inaugurating Monuments, it will appear at the bottom of the event and will never unite to cover the painting or statue that is going to be unveiled.
In the mourning ceremony, you will wear a black crepe on the end of the shaft.
When it appears in official cars, it must be small in size and located on the right and front of the vehicle.
Prohibitions.
It is prohibited to use the flag as a badge or advertisement, as part of the wardrobe.
It cannot be painted, engraved or drawn on vehicles, except for aircraft.
Reproduced in articles of unofficial use.
It cannot be crossed or next to another Cuban flag.
It cannot be used as a curtain, hanging, cover, canvas, mat, or in any way that prevents it from unfolding freely, except when used covering a sarcophagus.
Nor as a replica in any material for ornamental or commercial purposes or to cover tribunes, tables to preside over acts or front of platforms and on roofs of the sides and rear of a vehicle.
With its history, its own law and its colors full of meanings, it constitutes one of the greatest treasures of Cuba. When visiting the island, you will see it fluttering in various places.
