There are some names in Panama that you see so often that you eventually stop noticing them. Balboa is one of those names. It is on money in your pocket, on streets and neighborhoods, on buildings, schools, businesses and institutions, and in places associated with the Panama Canal. There is even a beer called Balboa. For a visitor, it can seem almost strange how often the same word appears.
But Balboa is not simply a convenient Panamanian name. It comes from one of the most important figures in the early history of Panama and from an event that would eventually help change the history of the entire world.
The name comes from Vasco Núñez de Balboa, the Spanish explorer who crossed the Isthmus of Panama in 1513 and became the first European to reach the Pacific Ocean from the Americas, at least according to the conventional European historical account. His journey demonstrated something enormously important: the Atlantic and Pacific were separated here by a relatively narrow strip of land.
The Panama Canal would not be built for another four centuries, but Balboa's crossing helped reveal why Panama would eventually become one of the most strategically important places on Earth. The Panama Canal Authority itself traces the early idea of creating an interoceanic passage back to Balboa's 1513 crossing, because he demonstrated just how narrow the land bridge between the two oceans was.
And that is where the story of the name Balboa becomes particularly interesting. Panama didn't just name one thing after Balboa. His name became woven into the country.
The Balboa in your pocket
Perhaps the most obvious example is Panama's currency.
The official currency of Panama is the balboa, named after Vasco Núñez de Balboa. The balboa was introduced as Panama's monetary unit after independence from Colombia, and its value was established at parity with the United States dollar.
That relationship continues today. Panama uses the U.S. dollar alongside its own coinage, while Panamanian coins carry denominations expressed in balboas and fractions of a balboa.
So when someone in Panama says something costs one balboa, they are essentially talking about one U.S. dollar. A quarter is commonly referred to as 25 centésimos, while the country's one balboa coin is particularly recognizable.
The Banco Nacional de Panamá's own catalog contains numerous examples of balboa coins, including one balboa, half balboa and quarter balboa pieces, as well as commemorative coins carrying Balboa's name and image.
That means Balboa is not just history.
You can literally carry his name around in your pocket.
Balboa beer
Then there is one of the most entertaining examples for visitors: Balboa beer.
For many tourists, the first Balboa they encounter isn't the explorer, the currency or the Canal Zone.
It is a cold beer.
Balboa became the name of one of Panama's best known beer brands, meaning that the name of a 16th century Spanish explorer is also sitting on bar counters and in refrigerators throughout modern Panama.
It is a wonderfully Panamanian example of how historical names can become so ordinary that people don't necessarily stop to think about where they came from.
A visitor might spend the afternoon drinking a Balboa while standing in a neighborhood called Balboa, having paid for it with a few balboas, before realizing that all three uses of the name ultimately lead back to the same historical figure.
Balboa, the place
Then there is Balboa, the area at the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal.
This is perhaps the most historically significant modern use of the name.
When the United States was constructing the Panama Canal in the early 20th century, enormous quantities of earth and rock were excavated. The canal construction transformed the landscape around Panama City, and the area that became the town of Balboa was part of that enormous construction story. The Panama Canal Authority notes that excavated material was used in the creation of areas including what became the town of Balboa and the nearby military facilities.
Balboa subsequently became one of the most important settlements in the former Canal Zone.
For decades, it was closely associated with the administration and operation of the Panama Canal. The name therefore became permanently connected not only with the explorer who crossed the isthmus but with the modern engineering project that finally connected the two oceans.
Today, the Panama Canal Authority's headquarters is in Balboa, Ancon.
So the name sits at an interesting intersection of Panama's history.
Balboa the explorer discovered the Pacific from the isthmus.
Balboa the place became part of the machinery of the Panama Canal.
Balboa the currency became part of everyday Panamanian life.
And Balboa the beer became something you can order at a bar.
Balboa and the Pacific
There is another reason Balboa's name is particularly appropriate for Panama.
Before Europeans reached the Pacific from the Americas, the Atlantic and Pacific oceans were effectively separate worlds from the European perspective. Balboa's expedition across the isthmus changed European geographical understanding dramatically.
In 1513, Balboa and his expedition crossed the isthmus and reached the great body of water he called the Mar del Sur, or South Sea. The Pacific Ocean was therefore brought into European geographical consciousness through Panama.
The Panama Canal Authority describes this event as one of the key historical steps that eventually led to the idea of an interoceanic canal.
The irony is fascinating.
Balboa crossed Panama because there was no canal.
Four hundred years later, a canal was built across essentially the same narrow land bridge.
And today, ships from around the world pass through the Panama Canal while traveling between the Atlantic and Pacific.
That makes Balboa's name particularly appropriate for the country.
Balboa and the canal dream
Balboa himself obviously had nothing to do with building the modern Panama Canal. He lived centuries too early.
But his journey helped establish the geographical fact that made the canal possible.
Once Europeans realized how close the two oceans were, the idea of creating some sort of passage across the isthmus became increasingly attractive.
In 1534, Emperor Charles V ordered a survey for a possible route following the Chagres River toward the Pacific. The proposed route roughly followed the corridor of today's Panama Canal. The survey concluded that such a project would be extraordinarily difficult, which turned out to be a rather impressive understatement.
For centuries, the idea remained more dream than reality.
Eventually the French attempted to build a canal, followed by the United States, and in 1914 the Panama Canal opened.
So when you stand at the Pacific entrance to the canal today, you are standing in a place whose significance can be traced back to that extraordinary 1513 crossing.
The name became part of national identity
Balboa's name eventually became much more than a historical reference.
Panama has streets, schools, neighborhoods, buildings, institutions and other places carrying his name. There is also the Order of Vasco Núñez de Balboa, one of Panama's highest distinctions.
The continued use of the name demonstrates how deeply Balboa has been incorporated into the country's national historical narrative.
As recently as the 25th anniversary of the transfer of the Panama Canal to Panamanian administration, the Panamanian government awarded the Order of Vasco Núñez de Balboa to recognize the contribution of a Canal worker.
That is quite a journey for a name that originated with a Spanish explorer more than 500 years ago.
But there is another side to the story
There is an important historical complication that is worth remembering.
Balboa's story is often presented in simple terms: Spanish explorer crosses Panama, sees the Pacific, and becomes a great historical figure.
The actual history of the Spanish conquest was considerably more complicated.
Balboa was part of the Spanish conquest and colonization of the Americas. His expedition relied heavily on Indigenous knowledge and assistance, and the Spanish presence brought enormous disruption, violence, disease and exploitation to Indigenous societies.
So while Balboa's crossing is an important historical event, it should not be confused with a purely heroic adventure story.
This is especially relevant in Panama, where the country's history long predates the arrival of Europeans and where Indigenous peoples remain an important part of the nation's identity.
The fact that Balboa's name is everywhere does not mean that every aspect of his history is celebrated in exactly the same way by everyone. It reflects the enormous historical importance of the Spanish conquest and the subsequent development of Panama, while also sitting within a much broader and more complicated history.
Why Panama has so many Balboas
Once you understand the original connection, the name suddenly starts jumping out at you.
You see Balboa on a coin.
Balboa on a sign.
Balboa on a building.
Balboa associated with the Canal.
Balboa as the name of a beer.
Balboa in historical monuments.
Balboa in the name of a national honor.
And suddenly you realize that the same name is connecting completely different parts of Panamanian life.
It is one of those fascinating things about traveling in Panama: history isn't necessarily sitting behind glass in a museum. Sometimes it is sitting in your wallet.
Sometimes it is on the road sign.
Sometimes it is on the beer bottle.
And sometimes you are standing in the very place where the historical event that inspired the name happened.
The strange legacy of Vasco Núñez de Balboa
Few historical names have been absorbed so thoroughly into everyday life.
Vasco Núñez de Balboa was born in Spain more than 500 years ago. His journey across the Isthmus of Panama lasted only a tiny moment in the country's enormous history.
Yet his name survived for centuries.
It became the name of Panama's currency.
It became the name of one of the country's most important Canal communities.
It became attached to one of Panama's best known beer brands.
It became the name of one of the country's highest honors.
And it became part of the everyday vocabulary of millions of people.
That is why Balboa is such an interesting word in Panama.
To a visitor, it might initially sound like just another place name. But once you understand the story, you realize that Balboa is almost a shortcut through Panamanian history.
It takes you from the Spanish conquest to the discovery of the Pacific, from the first dreams of an interoceanic passage to the construction of the Panama Canal, from the Canal Zone to modern Panama, and from national currency to the bar where someone is ordering another cold beer.
So the next time you hear someone in Panama say "un balboa", look at a Balboa coin, drive through Balboa or order a Balboa beer, there is a good chance you are interacting with the legacy of a man who crossed the Panamanian jungle in 1513 and helped reveal to the European world just how extraordinary this little strip of land between two oceans really was.