It has been in the past the first place of landing for the immigrants coming from Europe, mostly Italians. Lot of them settled there. La Boca is now an abandoned port due to silt up and industrial pollution. The inhabitants have created an unofficial Rep blica de La Boca to preserve their cultural heritage. The official building of the Republic is an abandoned Italian bank.
Genoese dialect is still the most spoken language there.
I am not aware of the status, origin and meaning of this flag. Such a flag, with inscription, was used during the match Argentina-Japan in Mondial 98 in France. According to my memory, when the football club was founded, they disagreed as to the club colours, so they agreed to watch the harbour and take the flag colours of the first foreign ship coming in. It was swedish. That s how a traveller discribed the Buenos Aires district of La Boca in the late 19th century.