On 6 November 1820, the Argentine flag was raised for the first time in the Islas Malvinas, a key moment that marked the history of Argentine sovereignty in the South Atlantic. The ceremony was conducted by Argentine Navy Colonel David Jewett, who, in command of the frigate Heroína and on behalf of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, reaffirmed the possession of the archipelago in a solemn ceremony.

Jewett's arrival in the Islas Malvinas was a strategic decision at a complex time. After the May Revolution and the Declaration of Independence, the United Provinces inherited a vast territory, but lacked the resources to consolidate their presence. In this context, Juan Martín de Pueyrredón's Directory resorted to privateers to defend territorial integrity. David Jewett was one of the men who carried out this task, travelling to the southernmost tip in 1820 to protect Argentine sovereignty.

On 6 November, Jewett flew the Argentine flag over the archipelago in front of his crew and some of the sea lion trawlers operating in the area. The ceremony was accompanied by an official proclamation prohibiting the indiscriminate hunting of marine mammals, and 21 cannon shots as a warning to fishing boats and pirates. From the frigate, the frigate announced to the world the Argentine presence and rights in the Islas Malvinas, evoking a declaration of sovereignty that endures to this day. This ceremony reaffirmed the continuity of a territory that had previously been controlled by Spain until 1811 and discovered by Magellan's expedition in 1520.

After several months in the area, Jewett asked the government to relieve him as Military Commander of the islands, and was replaced by Lieutenant Colonel William Mason during the first months of 1821 until 1833, when the British corvette Clio stormed the islands by force. They imposed themselves on a defenceless population and triggered a sovereignty conflict that continues to this day.

Since then, Argentina has maintained its claim before the United Nations and in multiple international forums, reaffirming its will to find a peaceful but firm resolution for the restitution of its territory.

Today, 204 years after that day, the first hoisting of the Argentine flag in the Islas Malvinas continues to be a symbol of Argentine rights over the archipelago. It is a reminder of the shared history and identity of a people that has not renounced its rights over those lands, in honour of its history, its geography and, above all, of those who fell in the Malvinas War in 1982.