Emilia Teurbe Tolon
Miguel Teurbe Tolon
Narciso Lopez
Emilia Margarita Teurbe Tolón y Otero was born 9 January 1828 in a house in the center of the city of Matanzas, Cuba.
In 1849, Emilia’s husband Miguel Teurbe Tolón, a poet and passionate advocate of Cuba’s independence, was declared an enemy of Spain and forced into exile in New York City. One year later, correspondence deemed seditious by Spanish authorities in Cuba was found at Emilia’s home in Matanzas, and she too was deported to the United States, where she joined her husband in the political meetings to organize against Spanish rule.
In New York City, Miguel, a Freemason, became a political activist with fellow Cuban exiles. His poetry and editorials pleaded for a free and democratic Cuba. While there he joined the Consejo Cubano (Cuban Junta) with fellow Freemason, Narciso López, a wealthy Venezuelan-born Spanish general who had been stationed in Cuba and forced into exile for opposing Spanish rule. López supported Cuba’s annexation to the United States as a way to free Cuba from the Spanish Crown. He asked Miguel to design the coat of arms for a new Cuban nation and asked Emilia to create a flag. López led the first armed expedition to Cuba in May 1850 and Emilia’s flag was hoisted in Cárdenas, Matanzas. The expedition failed, and after two more attempts López was executed by the Spanish and the annexation movement lost impetus.
Without López, and the movement in New York in disarray, Emilia and Miguel were granted amnesty and allowed to return to Cuba in 1855. Frustrated and tired of exile politics, she divorced Miguel and returned home. Back in Matanzas she faced rejection, even by her own family (because she divorced) and was forced to move to Havana. Lonely and dejected, she married again and moved to Spain in 1888, with no intention of returning to Cuba. However, she left a legacy in her will for the education of children in Cuba. However, in her will she left a legacy for the education of children in Cuba because she was a fervent believer in social justice.
Emilia died in Spain in 1902. An extensive search performed through the cemetaries of Madrid allowed in April 2010 the identification of Emilia Teurbe Tolón's tomb in the Nuestra Señora de La Almudena cemetary. After exhumation and transfer of the remains, Emilia Teurbe Tolón shall be buried on 23 August in the Colón necropolis, La Havana.
The flag embroidered by Emilia Teurbe Tolón is kept in the Revolution Museum, La Havana.
Original Cuban Flag 1850
The flag of Cuba has colors and symbols that were selected to represent the history and ideals of the nation at the time of its inception. Three of the stripes are meant to symbolize the three original provinces of Cuba, of which the nation was divided. The other stripes were designed to symbolize purity of the patriot cause. The triangle on the flag dates back to the French Revolution and represents equality fraternity and liberty. The color red is used to symbolize courage and blood sacrifice by the Cuban patriots. The white star in the triangle stood for independence.
The Cuban Coat of Arms consists of a shield, a wreath, and a Phrygian cap. The Phrygian cap is said to represent liberty.
The shield is divided into three sections. The gold key between two rocks symbolizes Cuba's position between North and South America.
The blue and white stripes represent the flag. The lower right division of the shield contains a Cuban landscape scene, dominated by a Royal Palm tree. The wreath is made of an oak branch and a laurel branch. The oak branch symbolizes the strength of Cuba and the laurel branch represents the honor of Cuba. The Coat of Arms was created by Miguel Teurbe Tolon.
The National Flower: La Mariposa Blanca (The White Butterfly), an endemic jasmine used by Cuban women during the independece war to transmit messages among the rebel forces. It's a symbol of purity, fight and independence. It grows in humid places, like river shores and lagoons. It could also be cultivated in gardens and backyards.
The National Bird: El Tocororo (Priotelus temnurus). An endemic bird similar to a Quetzal, reproduces in its feathers the colors of the National Flag: red, blue and white. It's a symbol of freedom, because inside a cage it dies.