WASHINGTON, July 12. -- An order has been issued by the President extending the privileges and protection of the American flag to the shipping of Puerto Rico and the Philippines.

The Caribe Hilton, built nearly 75 years ago to help draw tourists to Puerto Rico, looms over a reenactor straightening the Spanish flag at an 18th-century fort in San Juan.

Puerto Rico is a U.S. colony in the tropical Caribbean with its distinct history and culture. ... and in the middle, the Puerto Rican flag, and to the left, it's called the Burgundy flag.

On July 25, 1898, U.S. troops invaded Puerto Rico as part of the Spanish-American War. They won a swift victory and, by the end of the year, the U.S. had taken the island as a prize of war, ending ...