Lares stands for the yearning for homeland redemption; the red squares, the blood poured by the heroes of the rebellion and the white star in the blue solitude square, stands for liberty and freedom. El Grito de Lares On the morning of September 23, 1868, an Army of about 800 men met in the El Triunfo plantation and Manuel Rojas proceeded to take the town of Lares, which initiated the revolution known as El Grito de Lares. Once the town was taken, Bracetti's flag was placed on the High Altar of the Parroquial Church. The revolutionists declared Puerto Rico a republic, swore in Francisco Ramírez Medina as its first president and celebrated a speedy mass. The rebel forces then departed to take over the next town, San Sebastián del Pepino. The Spanish militia, however, surprised the group with strong resistance, causing great confusion among the armed rebels who, led by Manuel Rojas, retreated back to Lares. Upon an order from the governor, Julián Pavía, the Spanish militia soon rounded up the rebels. All of the survivors, including Bracetti, were imprisoned in Arecibo and the insurrection was quickly brought to an end. The original Lares flag was taken by a Spanish army officer as a war prize and many years later returned to the Puerto Rican people. It is now exhibited in the University of Puerto Rico's Museum. Eighty of the prisoners died in jail, Bracetti however, lived and was released on January 20, 1869, when the new Spanish Republican government granted them general amnesty. Mariana Bracetti died in the municipality of Añasco, Puerto Rico in 1903 and was buried in the Plaza of Añasco. There is a monument honoring her on the spot where she is buried. Legacy Juan de Mata Terreforte, a revolutionist who fought alongside Manuel Rojas in the Grito de Lares, and who was the Vice-President of Puerto Rican Revolutionary Committee, a Chapter of the Cuban Revolutionary Party in New York City, adopted Bracetti's "Flag of Lares" as the flag which represented Puerto Rico. It became their standard until 1892 when the current design, modeled after the Cuban flag, was unveiled and adopted by the committee. Bracetti was the principal subject of two books: El Grito de Lares by Luis Lloréns Torres, and Brazo de Oro by Cesáreo Rosa-Nieves. Her memory has been honored in Puerto Rico and elsewhere with schools, streets and avenues named after her.