The symbol of the state of the Republic of Cuba, its flag, is a rectangular cloth, the sides of which are related to each other as 1: 2. An equilateral triangle with apex to the center of the flag departs from the pole. The color of the triangle is red, with a white five-pointed star on its field in the middle. The rest of the panel area is occupied by five horizontal alternating stripes of blue and white colors. Three blue stripes are located at the bottom, center and top, and two white stripes are in between.
Today the flag symbolism is interpreted as follows: three blue stripes symbolize three parts into which the country was actually divided before the proclamation of the republic; the two white stripes are the purity of the thoughts of the Cuban patriots; the red triangle is the blood they shed during the battles, and the star is the union of the Cuban people in the name of a common goal.
The Cuban flag was created back in 1849. His idea came to the head of General Narciso Lopez, who led the armed struggle against the Spanish colonialists of the island. According to legend, the general invented the future flag in New York while in exile. In the early morning, he saw red triangular clouds in the dawn sky and the star Venus in their gap against the background of a blue sky. After sharing his idea with friend Miguel Toulon, who was the editor of La Verdad, Lopez commissioned his wife to make the very first Cuban flag.
The general first raised it in 1850 during an attempt to overthrow the Spanish colonialists in the town of Cardenas, but the uprising was defeated. As a sign of solidarity, similar banners fluttered in those days on the offices of American newspapers in New Orleans and New York.
Cuba defeated Spain only in 1898, but fell under the jurisdiction of the United States of America, and therefore, for several years, the American Stars and Stripes symbol was raised on all flagpoles of the island.
Officially, the flag of Cuba became the state flag only in 1902, when a republic was proclaimed on the island. On May 20, General Massimo Gomez raised him at the fortress del Morro in Havana, emphasizing with this ceremony the end of the bloody struggle for independence from Spanish rule.
The Cuban flag is very popular on the island and is loved by its inhabitants. It can be seen not only on official buildings, but also on the homes of ordinary Cubans. Dozens of flags on high flagpoles almost completely cover the building of the former US Embassy in Havana, thus demonstrating the lack of diplomatic relations between the countries.
