The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #156342   Message #3686338
Posted By: Joe Offer
16-Dec-14 - 03:57 PM
Thread Name: Origins: Que Bonita Bandera
Subject: ADD: Que Bonita Bandera
One of the songs we want to include in the forthcoming Rise Again songbook is Que Bonita Bandera, but I'm having trouble finding authentic lyrics for the song. I know the song from the singing of Pete Seeger and the Weavers, but I don't know if their lyrics are authentic.

Here's what Pete Seeger has in American Favorite Ballads (Oak Publications, 1961), p. 14. I also found the song in Jerry Silverman's 1975 Folk Song Encyclopedia (Vol 2, page 283). I think Silverman's Spanish is a little better, but not perfect:

QUE BONITA BANDERA

CHORUS:
Que bonita bandera
Que bonita bandera
Que bonita bandera es la bandera Puertoriqueña

Azul, blanca, y colorada,
y en el medio tiene un (una?) estrella
Bonita señores es la bandera Puertoriqueña


Seeger
Todo buen Puertoriqueña
Es bueno que la defienda,
Bonita señores, es la bandera Puertoriqueña

Bonita señora es
Que bonita es ella
Que bonita es la bandera Puertoriqueña
Silverman
Bonita, señores;
Que bonita es ella.
Bonita, señores es la bandera Puertoriqueña

Bonita, señores;
Es bueno que la defienda,
Bonita señores, es la bandera Puertoriqueña

Pete's notes: A patriotic song I learned in 1955 from young Puerto Ricans living in New York. I've been unable to locate the composer. If you cannot sing the chorus in harmony, the melody of the alto part should be sung, rather than the soprano.

My attempt at a translation:

CHORUS
How beautiful is the flag
How beautiful is the flag
How beautiful is the flag of Puerto Rico

Blue, white, and red
With a star in the middle
Beautiful indeed is the flag of Puerto Rico.

(unclear to me)
The good of Puerto Rico
It is good which is defended
Beautiful indeed is the flag of Puerto Rico.

It is like a beautiful woman
So beautiful it is
How beautiful is the flag of Puerto Rico
Wikipedia says the song was written by Florencio Morales "Flor" Ramos (September 5, 1915 – February 23, 1989), better known as Ramito.

And a YouTube recording: