There is a connection between the Dominican and the Lares flag. Some of the leaders of the 1868 revolution were exiled in the Dominican Republic and from there they came to Puerto Rico. They had planned to bring arms and supplies from the Dom. Rep. but the Spaniards were informed of their plans, so they had to move ahead the date of the rising in Lares hoping that they could hold long enough to receive the arm supplies. This was not the case as the revolutionary forces were crushed in three days. Becasue of their connection with the Dom. Rep. it was natural that the leaders would choose a flag similar to that nation's. The 1895 leaders did the same when they chose a flag similar to the cuban one, since they were intimately connected with the Cuban struggle.

The original "Grito de Lares" flag is the same as the one use today. It was originally created by Ramón Emeterio Bentances to be the flag of the Puerto Rico Republic once independent from Spain. The flag is identical to the original Dominican Republic flag but with the five-pointed star. I do not know of any relationship, but Puerto Rican independence was thought about among several Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and Dominicans gathered in New York."