The Super Bowl halftime show is one of the most watched cultural events in the US. Every year, tens of millions of viewers tune in, many of them less for the sport than for the spectacle. That reach makes halftime a rare moment in which ideas about national identity and belonging are staged for a global audience.
At the 2026 Super Bowl in Santa Clara, Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny delivered a halftime performance almost entirely in Spanish and packed with carefully staged symbolism. To understand what the show was communicating, it helps to look closely at four key moments.
