All the powerful hidden meanings you probably missed in Bad Bunny’s symbolic Super Bowl set

Once again, Bad Bunny has made history after he headlined what became the most-watched Super Bowl halftime show ever, which was filled with hidden meanings.

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While many people questioned the NFL’s decision beforehand, Benito used his nearly 14-minute performance to deliver something far bigger than a typical halftime spectacle: An unapologetic love letter to Puerto Rico.

Bad Bunny turned the halftime show into a celebration of culture, identity and community. As he once told Harper’s Bazaar, his success in the United States is deeply tied to Latino communities, and his performance made that message impossible to ignore.

The sugar cane fields referenced Puerto Rico’s colonial past

The show’s opening set recreated sprawling sugar cane fields, a direct nod to Puerto Rico’s complicated economic and colonial history. Like many Caribbean islands, Puerto Rico was heavily exploited for agriculture during European colonial rule. While empires profited from sugar exports, enslaved people and local communities endured brutal labor conditions.

His jersey paid tribute to family roots

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Bad Bunny, born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, honored his family through his wardrobe. Wearing an all-white Zara outfit, he took the stage in a jersey embroidered with the number “64”, referencing the uncle he was named after who played football wearing that same number. The back of the jersey read “Ocasio”, highlighting his family name.

Everyday street life recreated a sense of home

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As he moved through the set, scenes of Puerto Rican street culture unfolded around him: Older men playing dominos, women getting their nails done, vendors selling jewelry, tacos and piragua (shaved ice).

Together, these details recreated the rhythms of everyday life on the island, reinforcing the themes of community and nostalgia that shaped his Grammy-winning 2025 album Debí Tirar Más Fotos.

“El Apagón” highlighted Puerto Rico’s power crisis

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During his performance of “El Apagón,” dancers climbed electrical poles that sparked and exploded, a visual representation of Puerto Rico’s ongoing electrical instability.

The song references frequent blackouts that have plagued the island, especially after Hurricane Maria triggered the longest electrical blackout in U.S. history in 2017. Bad Bunny has long criticized the government and energy companies over the issue, making this moment one of the show’s most overt political statements.

The casita symbolized tradition and community

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Bad Bunny’s pink cement casita, first seen in the Debí Tirar Más Fotos short film, returned to the stage. Inspired by traditional countryside homes, the structure has become a recurring symbol in his work.

Just like during his San Juan residency, celebrity guests filled the porch while Benito performed from the rooftop, reinforcing themes of home, shared culture and community celebration.

El Morro brought Puerto Rico’s history to the world stage

Lady Gaga’s surprise cameo introduced a replica of Castillo San Felipe del Morro, the iconic 16th-century Spanish fortress in San Juan. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and U.S. National Park, El Morro represents Puerto Rico’s layered colonial history, a reminder of the island’s resilience and global significance.

The light blue Puerto Rican flag referenced independence

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Throughout the show, Bad Bunny carried a Puerto Rican flag featuring a lighter shade of blue, widely associated with the Puerto Rican independence movement. The color appeared elsewhere too, including in Lady Gaga’s dress, which she paired with the red flor de maga, Puerto Rico’s national flower.

Together, the imagery emphasized cultural pride while subtly nodding to ongoing political conversations about the island’s future.

Even the taco stand had historical symbolism

Fans quickly noticed that one taco stand was labeled “Villa’s Tacos”, seemingly referencing Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa, the only person to have led a military incursion into the United States. Like many details in the performance, the reference added another layer of Latin American history to a already symbolism-heavy show.

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Featured image credit: Action Press/Shutterstock