The so-called Living Flag was kept in a residence since 1971.
December 11, 2024 - After 87 years of the tragic Ponce Massacre that occurred on March 21, 1937, one of the most significant and painful events in the history of Puerto Rico, and after 53 years under the private custody of a home for its preservation, an emblematic flag of Puerto Rico used during this historic event has been officially unveiled. From now on, this priceless piece will be kept at the Law School of the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, where it can be appreciated by the general public.
“The flag, which retains blood stains from the heroes of that historic deed, was cleaned and adapted to guarantee its historical preservation,” said Julio Fontanet Maldonado, dean of the School of Law. “For our university community it is a great honor to exhibit this second preserved flag of the Ponce Massacre. We are aware of the responsibility to preserve it and make it accessible to the Puerto Rican people. We are deeply grateful to the outstanding musician and composer Francisco “Papio” Paz, who has been the custodian of this flag since 1971, for placing his trust in us,” he said. Fontanet Maldonado added that “it is a great honor for our university community to be able to exhibit the second flag preserved from the Ponce Massacre.
For his part, Paz explained that “for the past decades, I have had the privilege and honor of guarding this Living Flag that means so much in our history. There are no words to describe the feelings and emotions I have had after such a long time and knowing that it will finally be kept in rigorous conservation conditions and exposed to the public from this glorious day, and in this Law School, from which I am a graduate”. The renowned gerontologist and lawyer also added that “I had the honor of presenting this historic flag to the patriots Lolita Lebrón and Isabel Rosado, whose signatures the flag bears, as well as to the patriot and poet Juan Antonio Corretjer, which has been an extremely significant part of this journey to protect a historic canvas of our national struggle”.
Eduardo Martín Guardiola, renowned Puerto Rican publicist, elaborated on the concerted efforts to unveil this valuable flag. “Since my friend Willie Paz, Papio's son, approached me to be in charge of finding a way to share this flag publicly, I felt a deep sense of responsibility accompanied by mixed emotions of honor and pride immediately,” added Martín Guardiola, “I thought of this university campus, the Inter-American Law School, which has such a long history of supporting cultural and historical projects and which has so much identification with the country's just causes”.
Dr. José “Che” Paralitici, a distinguished historian and researcher who was the guest speaker at the unveiling ceremony, summed up his opening remarks by pointing out that “the tragedy of the Ponce Massacre cannot be forgotten, nor can the courage and dignity of Dominga de la Cruz Becerril in protecting one of the flags of the homeland that accompanied the parade. Today one of those flags will be guarded by the Interamerican School of Law, with honor and with the living memory of those who knew how to raise it with honor and defend it with sacrifice”.
Dean Fontanet Maldonado emphasized that the flag will be on display in the law school library. He also expanded on the important detail of the care of the canvas. “The task of cleaning the flag and preparing it for future preservation was the responsibility of the well-known textile conservator, historian and anthropologist Soraya Serra,” he added.
Meanwhile, Serra recounted how the flag's conservation focused on preventive tasks. “We started with mechanical cleaning to remove dust. We smoothed folds and wrinkles to avoid breaking the fibers. We removed the adhesive tapes over the signatures of Lebron and Rosado to prevent further oxidation in the areas in contact. We observed several stains created by a liquid substance that coincided with the oral history associated with the flag and were not removed because they were an intrinsic part of its history. For temporary display, the textile has been placed on a flat padded surface with conservation stitching. Its long-term preservation requires the avoidance and blocking of light and pests, factors that contribute to its deterioration,” said Serra.
A LITTLE HISTORY - From the hand of Papio Paz
The renowned pianist tells how, during a party in Utuado in 1971, Félix Grajales approached him to tell him that he wanted to place in his hands a national treasure: two Puerto Rican flags that had “been” in that Palm Sunday demonstration of 1937 that had such a tragic end.
Grajales, however, made several clarifications and warnings to the young thirty-something pianist: of the two flags, one has blood stains; the other does not. The latter,“ he told him, ”you will place it on my coffin when I die. Just three years after that meeting at a farm in Utuado, Papio Paz was fulfilling Grajales“ wishes at a funeral home in Coamo.
The second flag, the one with the blood stains, continued to be guarded by Paz, who had the fortunate idea of sharing the flag with two fundamental women in Puerto Rico's anti-colonial struggle: with Lolita Lebrón, who on April 13, 1985 stamped her signature, in blue ink, on the flag, and with Doña Isabelita Rosado, who printed her signature next to Lolita's, but in black ink, on May 27, 1992. Both events took place in Paz's house in Miramar.
Other characters begin to intervene in this story in early 2023. Guillermo “Willie” Paz, Papio's publicist son, contacts Eduardo “Cachorro” Martín Guardiola, another publicist with whom Paz shares a decades-long friendship, and tells him that his father, now 85 years old, has that historic flag, that he would like to do something about it before he dies: Papio Paz wants to get it “out of the secret” it has been in for more than five decades and, moreover, to leave it in good hands.
Thus, in brief words, this living flag arrives in the hands of Dean Julio Fontanet Maldonado and the Interamerican University School of Law for its preservation, custody and exhibition to the public in its library.
