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Iāve been meaning to ask you about your take on the shade of blue! 
Iām well aware of the dark blue/light blue dilemma (I lived in Santurce in 2008āa big political year for the mainland as well as la Isla, and I saw every version of the flag). Regardless of anyoneās politics, Iām pleased to see Puerto Ricoās flag as an option to attach to oneās avatar. PRās political status, history, and culture are so unique, I think it would be a shame not to include it in addition to the US flag. (And in any case, I think itās a lovely design.)
There is no āofficialā shade of blue (as far as I know) specified in the 1995 regulations on using the Puerto Rican flag, so in most representations outside of PR, I notice that the blue is almost always exactly halfway between the 1895 sky blue and the 1952 dark blue. 
A politically ambiguous, near-perfect mid-tone. I wonder if there will ever be an official blue (maybe the mid-tone?), or if codifying it would be too controversial, even if itās just a formality. 
There would be no coding because depending on which political party is governing, they will change it every 4 years like they do with the including/excluding the English language as an official one, celebrating PR constitution day, making up new holidays like āPR US citizenship dayā etc. Right now there is a general consensus that the mid blue is correct but since the current government is pro-statehood they use the same deep blue as the American flag(matching flags) which is wrong in my opinion. I like the light sky blue which is very patriotic and matches the inverted colors of the Cuban flag, which they say both flags were designed together. 2008 was the year I wasnāt living in PR. I was in Hawaii when Obama won his first term. I wish I would had registered to vote in Hawaii since it was my only opportunity to vote for a US President, you may know we canāt vote for president while residing in PR.
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Two wings of the same bird! 
Iām also partial to the sky blue for purely aesthetic (not necessarily political) reasonsāI just think itās pretty. But I like the medium blue as a politically-ambiguous option. If the governor changed the flag colors every four years based on his/her party, that might drive me crazy. 
Thanks for your take on the blues! 
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Honestly, I would never ever even play with the idea to place a German flag near my name. I see nothing good in being āproud of the land I was born toā, that goes for every country. National pride means nothing to me. But I like the European flag, this far from national pride, it just says where I come from and included all countries around.
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Same here, but the European Union is a bureaucratic monster and some members only seem to be in it to grab money and to block others, soI rather changed to the German flagto show where I am from.
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Apparently France has done something similar, the shade of Blue has been changed back to deeper Navy Blue from the EU Flag Cobalt Blue.
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@PinkNoodle @Maddymail
Yesterday I went to the Veteranās National Cemetery in PR and they had the PR flag matching the same color as the USA flag. 
The day before that I went to a souvenir shop and they sell 2-3 different shades of flags.
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They have to be ready to please everyone, I suppose!
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I use my flag for location purposes only. Since Iām also doing a lot of swaps recently, it might be good for people to know where I live.
I could have used the flag of the Netherlands, since Iām Dutch as well, but I donāt identify myself that much as Dutch and neither as German. More like a citizen of Europe or the World.
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Yea I display the American flag because Iām actually proud to be an American and I have no shame to be 
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Nor should you, of course.
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@shootingstar7 & @PinkNoodle
Monica, Rebecca, very interesting to see the two shades of the PR flag, thank you,
You have reminded me of a debate closer to home here in the UK about the shade of Blue for the Scottish Saltire and its incorporation into the Union Flag, many say the Blue is too dark and should be a lighter shade, to match the Scottish flag, not 100% certain of the origins of the darker blue, apparently it pairs betters with the Red and White.
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Iām relatively new to the forum and didnāt have the flag displayed on my settings at first. I decided to add it when I started playing some of the games because I think it is helpful to know peopleās geographic location, especially with all of the frequent changes on the postal monitor. I donāt think of the flag on anyoneās profile as a sign of patriotism or nationalism (though for some that may be the case). I think of it as a quick visual clue as to where the person lives.
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Ultimately, I think youāre absolutely right (I mean, that is the purpose of the flags on this forum), and that I should probably just let go of my misgivings.
No one should feel ashamed of their nationality, obviouslyā¦itās just that sometimes itās hard to feel enthusiastic or optimistic about current events. And I know that people have more concrete reasons than mine to feel ambivalent about their flag usage. Iāll try to stop overthinking it.
Great to hear that about our country and our beautiful flag! I feel exactly the same! Also proud to have served in the USMC so did my husband. Our flag means a lot to us.
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I never felt represented by national flags (independent of in which country I resided over the years). To me personally a national flag seems to be somehow a bit ārandomā ā for very abstract and simplified speaking: sometime in rather recent history of human existence some people were fighting against each other, a border was set, a flag was created.
To me personally that feels rather excluding and segregating.
Of course itās a very complex issue and everyone has their own way of thinking and feeling about (national) flags and I by no means want to impose my personal impression on someone else BUTā¦
ā¦I nevertheless thought I might share what I once stumbled upon when doing a research on the internet for a flag that I felt more represented by.
I like the idea behind it and how the design tries to showcase unity and aims on representing everyone from everywhere equally.
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@pinknoodle Itās totally okay to have a complicated relationship with the flag. It doesnāt make you unpatriotic and it certainly doesnāt mean you disrespect veterans.
I come from a family of immigrants and veterans who hung the flag outside our front door every morning. And I get that and celebrate that. Iām proud of their service snd their hard journey to become Americans, and Iām grateful.
But I see both sides of the issue. I know the theft and genocide (against Native people) that founded this country, and the enslavement that built our national wealth and status, and the ongoing systemic racism and colonialism and xenophobia thatās built into our very fabric and isnāt going away anytime soon.
The flag is a pervasive symbol, but not a unifying identity.
To me itās a very complex symbol that reflects a huge range of identities, many versions of history, and many different lived realities today.
Some people like to remove that complexity and replace it with a pride that shames others for pointing out the complexity or for voicing their lived reality. Thatās their right. But it doesnāt stop me from seeing the complexity in the symbol and knowing it hits every person in different ways.
So thatās why I donāt have it next to my name on this site. Because others might see it as meaning something I donāt intend.
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