La Borinqueña: Puerto Rico's National Anthem and Its Two Versions

"La Borinqueña" is Puerto Rico's official anthem, but its history embodies the island's political division: two versions exist with radically different messages.

The Original Revolutionary Version (1868):
Written by Lola Rodríguez de Tió in 1868 as a revolutionary anthem for the Grito de Lares uprising, the original lyrics were an explicit call to arms against Spanish colonialism:

"¡Despierta, borinqueño / que han dado la señal!
¡Despierta de ese sueño / que es hora de luchar!"

(Awake, Borinqueño / the signal has been given!
Awake from that sleep / it is time to fight!)

The revolutionary version explicitly calls for Puerto Ricans to take up arms against colonial rule and fight for independence.

The Official Commonwealth Version (1952):
When Puerto Rico adopted its Commonwealth constitution in 1952, the government adopted a different set of lyrics written by Manuel Fernández Juncos in 1903. These lyrics are purely descriptive and apolitical, celebrating Puerto Rico's natural beauty without any political content:

"La tierra de Borinquen / donde he nacido yo,
es un jardín florido / de mágico primor."

(The land of Borinquen / where I was born,
is a flowering garden / of magical beauty.)

Political Significance:
- The existence of two versions mirrors Puerto Rico's political division: the revolutionary version represents the independence movement; the official version represents the Commonwealth's domestication of Puerto Rican identity
- The Gag Law of 1948 effectively criminalized the revolutionary version
- Independence supporters still sing the revolutionary lyrics at gatherings and protests
- The official version's deliberate avoidance of political content represents a colonial strategy: defining Puerto Rican identity through landscape rather than political aspiration

The two Borinqueñas represent the fundamental choice confronting Puerto Rico: between an identity defined by resistance to colonialism and one that accommodates it.