REPLICA.

The original Philippine flag of 1896 at the headquarters of the International

Flag House. Photo by George Moya/Rappler

MANILA, Philippines – Did you know that the country celebrates Flag
Days for two weeks in the lead up to our Independence Day
celebration?

Section 26 of Republic Act 8491, or the Flag and Heraldic Code of the
Philippines, says May 28 to June 12 mark the official celebration of
Flag Days, culminating in the celebration of Independence Day.

On these days, all Filipinos are encouraged to display their Philippine

flags.

Why start on May 28? It was on this day in 1898 when the Philippine
flag was first unfurled after the Philippine Revolutionary Army won
over the Spanish forces in the Battle at Alapan in Imus, Cavite.

Despite years of learning about the Philippines and its emblems in

history classes and various reading materials, there may still be a lot
to discover.

For one, the document, The Act of the Proclamation of Philippine

Independence (Acta de la proclamacion de independencia del pueblo
Filipino), written by lawyer and author Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista,
defies and challenges most of what we know about the Philippine Flag.
Here are some of them:

On the three stars

Contrary to common belief, the 3 stars actually represent the islands

of Luzon, Panay and Mindanao, and not Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

The Proclamation of Independence in 1898 referred to these 3 as the

"archipelago's three principal islands" where the revolution started,
and not the "principal grouping of islands".

At that time, the island of Panay was treated as the Visayan center of
the revolutionary movement.

On the white triangle

The color white is often seen as a symbol of purity. But the white
triangle actually represents the Katipunan, which, through the blood
compact, compelled the masses to rise in revolt.

It also refers to the "Eye of Providence", the all-seeing eye which went
on to inspire the Katipunan's ideology.

On the sun and its rays

The first flag used from 1896 up to 1901 had an anthropomorphic sun
with a face, a recurring symbol in masonic rites.

1898-1901. The old flag features an anthropomorphic eight-rayed sun. Image from
Malacanang

Sewn in Hong Kong by Filipino expatriates and eventually brought to

the Philippines by Emilo Aguinaldo, the flag was made tri-colored,
featuring blue and red with a white triangle on the left side framing 3
yellow stars, along with the anthropomorphic 8-rayed sun.

The 8 rays symbolize the first 8 Tagalog provinces that rose up against
Spanish colonial rule: Manila, Cavite, Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija,
Laguna, Tarlac, and Batangas.

However, in the original version of the document – and even in its

English translation – there was no mention of Tarlac as part of the 8
rays. Instead of Tarlac was Bataan.

On the colors

The designers of the flag decided to use the same colors of the United
States flag – red, blue, and white – to honor its "disinterested
protection" of the Philippines.

In fact, there were many propositions and revisions in the colors,

specifically with the shade of blue.

Executive Order No. 1010 in 1985 changed the flag's blue shade from
navy blue to pale sky blue. Historians noted that this change was
influenced by the available clothing supplies at the time.

1985-1986. On the last year of former president Ferdinand Marcos, the Philippine flag
has a shade of sky blue on top. Image from Malacañang

This change of color was unknown to many.

After the EDSA Revolution in 1986, President Corazon Aquino
reinstalled the original navy blue color through Executive Order No.
292.

In 1998, the shade of blue was reverted to royal blue – the color used
during the Commonwealth time – as part of the specifications
observed up until today. –

THE HISTORY OF THE PHILIPPINE

FLAG
Revolutionary beginnings

1898 – 1901

On May 28, 1898, days after the return of General Emilio Aguinaldo from exile in Hong
Kong, Filipino troops were once again engaged in a battle against Spanish forces in
Alapan, Cavite. It was in this skirmish that the Philippine flag was first unfurled as the
revolutionary standard. Sewn in Hong Kong by Filipino expatriates and brought to the
country by Aguinaldo, the flag was a tri-color featuring red and blue with a white
triangle framing three yellow stars and an anthropomorphic eight-rayed sun.

Half a month later, on June 12, 1898, following the proclamation of independence from
Spain, the same flag was waved by at Aguinaldo’s residence in Kawit, Cavite, as the
Marcha Nacional Filipina played.

Throughout the Filipino Revolutionary War until the capture of Aguinaldo that
precipitated the end of the Philippine-American War, the flag of the same design was
flown with the red field on top to denote a state of war. Aguinaldo wrote about this
unique feature of the Philippine flag in a letter to Captain Emmanuel A. Baja dated June
11, 1925:

Several press representatives called on me then to inquire as to how the Flag

should be flown. I answered them that it should be always hoisted with the
blue stripe up in time of peace. But on the battlefields and in camps during
the past war, first with Spain and then with the United States of America
later, our National Flag had been hoisted with the red stripe up.

Upon Aguinaldo’s capture, the Philippine Republic was abolished; the American Insular
Government, under the jurisdiction of the U.S. War Department, was established. With
the war over and Philippine leaders officially accepting American sovereignty over the
islands, the Philippine flag was flown with the blue field on top. It was to be displayed
that way henceforth during peacetime.

1901 – 1907

American Occupation and the Commonwealth Government

For six years, the Philippine flag and other banners and emblems of the Katipunan
continued to proliferate. In response, the Philippine Commission, dominated by
Americans, passed Act No. 1697 or the Flag Law of 1907, which outlawed the display of
the Philippine flag and replaced the country’s flag to the stars and stripes of the United
States of America. The same law prohibited the playing of the national anthem.
1919 – 1936

It took 11 years until the Philippine Legislature, finally in the hands of elected Filipino
representatives and senators, repealed the Flag Law, through the efforts of Governor-
General Francis Burton Harrison, and reinstated the Philippine flag as the official
standard of the nation. Modifications were made to Aguinaldo’s flag: The sun no longer
had anthropomorphic features, and its rays were stylized. This design would be used
from 1919 until the inauguration of the Commonwealth of the Philippines in 1935.

From 1919 to 1941 Flag day was celebrated on October of every year by virtue of
Proclamation No. 18, issued by Governor-General Francis Burton Harrison in
commemoration of the day the Flag Law was repealed.

Months after the inauguration of the Commonwealth, President Manuel L. Quezon

issued Executive Order No. 23, s. 1936, instituting the description and specifications of
the Filipino flag, which would remain in effect until the Second World War. Throughout
this period, the American and Philippine flags flew side-by-side.

President Manuel L. Quezon, in 1941, moved the commemoration of Flag Day from
October to June 12. This marks the first instance that June 12, the date of Aguinaldo’s
proclamation, was commemorated.

1936 – 1941

The Second Republic and the Second World War

Bombing attacks on the Philippines and the American naval base at Pearl Harbor
plunged the United States of America into war with Japan and the Axis powers.
President Quezon issued Executive Order No. 386, s. 1941, mandating all Philippine
flags to be flown with the red field on top to signify a state of war.

1941 – 1945

Meanwhile, the Second Philippine Republic was established in the islands under the
auspices of the Empire of Japan, with Jose P. Laurel serving as president. The flag was
raised by former President Emilio Aguinaldo and General Artemio Ricarte during the
inaugural of the Second Republic on October 14, 1943. Laurel issued Executive Order
No. 17, s. 1943, which essentially brought back the Aguinaldo design of the Philippine
flag. This flag would eventually be displayed with the red stripe up in 1944, when the
Second Republic declared that it was under a State of War.

1943 – 1944

From 1943 until the end of the War in the Pacific, two versions of the Philippine flag
existed: the Commonwealth flag used by the Government-in-exile based in Washington
D.C., as well as by guerrillas in the islands, and the Aguinaldo flag used by the Japanese-
sponsored government. Following the surrender of Japan and the liberation of the
Philippines, the latter’s use would be discontinued with the dissolution of the Second
Republic.

In the aftermath of World War II, the Commonwealth of the Philippines was restored
and with it the specifications of the Philippine flag in accordance with Executive Order
No. 23, s. 1936. On July 4, 1946, Philippine independence was recognized by the United
States, giving birth to the Third Republic of the Philippines. In ceremonies held at what
is now Luneta, United States High Commissioner to the Philippines Paul V. McNutt and
Philippine President Manuel Roxas lowered the American flag for the last time and in its
stead rose the Philippine flag to henceforth fly alone on Philippine soil, except in
military bases still held and occupied by the United States Armed Forces. Starting May
1, 1957, the Philippine flag was raised beside the U.S. flag in U.S. military bases in the
Philippines.

Third, Fourth, and Fifth Republics

1985 – 1986

Commonwealth-era specifications, in accordance with Executive Order No. 23, s. 1936,

would remain in effect throughout the Third and Fourth Republics until 1985, when
President Ferdinand E. Marcos issued Executive Order No. 1010, s. 1985, changing the
shade of blue of the Philippine Flag from navy blue to light blue. The change was due to
a longstanding debate among historians concerning the original shade of blue used in
the national flag. Debates centered on whether Cuban blue (since the flag was patterned
on some aspects of Cuba’s national flag), or sky-blue (based on written accounts by
some revolutionaries as well as a watercolor from the era), or navy blue (based on the
colors of the American flag) was used. Ocampo says the actual color used—pale sky blue
—owed less to historical precedent and more to available cloth supplies at the time.

The change in color proved unpopular. After the EDSA revolution of 1986, President
Corazon C. Aquino restored the pre-martial law specifications of the National flag
through Executive Order No. 292, s. 1987, yet again in accordance with Commonwealth
regulations. Under her term, the Philippine Senate rejected the Bases Treaty with the
United States, thus putting an end to more than 90 years of American military presence
in the Philippines—in particular, the sprawling naval base in Subic Bay and the Clark
Airfield in Pampanga. As the American flag was lowered in these areas, it marked the
last time a foreign flag would fly in Philippine territory.

Commonwealth regulations were maintained until 1998, when Republic Act. No.
8491 or the “Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines” was enacted, changing the
shade of blue once again from navy to royal, viewed as a suitable historical compromise
to settle earlier debates. These are the specifications in use today.

1998 – present