(
First patriotic symbol of Cuba )
-1849 -
On April 11, 1869, in the Assembly
of Guáimaro, it was agreed that the national flag of Cuba was raised by General Narciso
López in the city of Cárdenas, located in the province of Matanzas, May 19, 1850.
The Cuban flag was recognized during the
Constitution of 1901. This acknowledgement was later ratified in the
Constitution of 1940. On May 20, 1902 when Cuba was proclaimed a Free and
Independent Republic, it was raised for the first time on the Castle
of Los Tres Reyes del Morro on the port of Havana.
Just like every flag has its history, this
one would be no exception. Here it is. General Narciso, a Venezuelan nationalist,
while in New York City fighting for the independent sector of Cuba, exhausted by his
revolutionary labors, fell asleep in a park. Upon awakening he looked at the sky and
saw blue and white silhouettes with a red spot produced by sunset. An oscillating
star shined in the center. These elements contemplated a joyous idea. Narciso López
was so moved that he went looking for his friend and compatriot, Miguel Teurbe Tolón,
a poet and artist from Matanzas, whom with the ideas expressed by Narciso
López, designed the Cuban flag. The flag was tailored in satin cloth by Teurbe
Tolón's wife, Emilia, who was also his
cousin.
The flag measured half a meter in
length and thirty five centimeters in width, sewed by hand . Its' star, with curved
outlines, had a thin edge which was also white.
The three sky blue stripes, later changed
to a blue turquoise or navy blue, represented the three Departments in which the Island
was divided at that time: East, Center and West. The two white stripes that
separated the blue ones, represent the purity and justice
of patriots, the liberators.
The equilateral red triangle, a symbol of
the dispersed blood of heroes, and the sole star with one of its points pointing upward,
with the flag positioned horizontally represents the union of a nation in its full
splendor.
The original flag created by Narciso
López in 1849, had the star rotated, with one of its points aligned pointing to
the free end of the triangle. The actual position of the star was decided by the first
Constitutional President of Cuba, Mr. Tomás Estrada Palma, in a Decree
on April 21, 1906. He also determined at this time which blue color tone would be used for
the flag's three stripes, deciding that they would be that turquoise. |
