Unofficial sources claim that La Borinqueña was originally written by the Puerto Rican Francisco Ramírez Ortíz, who composed the melody for his lover. The song was quick to gain popularity and sang in festivals and serenades across the island. Soon after, Ramírez met the Catalan Félix Astol Artés, who in 1867 made some changes and wrote the music for it, transforming the song into an habanera dance. He titled the song "La Bella Tringuena."
A year later, the popularity of the song gave Puerto Rican poet Lola Rodríguez de Tió the idea to adapt the lyrics to a revolutionary tone to support the Puerto Rican independence struggle and to motivate the Puerto Rican people to rebellion against Spain.
The colonial government however was not pleased with this new version of the song and inquired as to it's origins. Ramírez, afraid of being pursued and persecuted, denied to have composed the song. It is believed that he gave the manuscript of Astol, who by being a Spaniard, was safe from retaliation, which explains why there are no official documents that indicate that Ramírez was the author, and why historians name Astol as the author.
In 1903, Puerto Rican poet Manuel Fernández Juncos, who also wrote "La Tierra de Borinquen", integrated his poem to the lyrics of Lola's version, because Rodriguez De Tios version was deemed too subversive. The music itself also suffered several transformations in rhythm over the years.
Finally, in 1952 the colonial government of Puerto Rico approved a law establishing "La Borinqueña" as the offical anthem of the "Commonwealth" of Puerto Rico using the newer, non revolutionary lyrics. Ramón Collado made further changes to convert the danza into the march that we know today. The music was officially adopted as the islands national anthem by the Puerto Rican colonial government in 1952, and the words in 1977.
Lola Rodriguez De Tios version is still sung and considered the official Puerto Rican Independentista national anthem.
