Making of the Philippine Flag

by Fernando Amorsolo

The making of Philippine flag is a masterpiece painted by Fernando Amorsolo May 28, 1898 who
was one of the most important artists in the history of painting in the Philippines. The painting shows
three women who were tasked by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo to sew the first flag for the new republic
namely Marcella Marino de Agoncillo (on the right side) refer as the mother of the Philippine flag, with
the help of Lorenza and Delfina Herbosa de Natividad which is actually the daughter of Marcela. It is
believed that Fernando Amorsolo made this painting to show the citizen of the Philippines of how the
Philippine flag was made and to remind them the traditions and customs that we did not realize it
becomes faded. This painting will be analyzed using four planes of art anlysis: the basic semiotic, iconic,
contextual and the evaluative.

The Republic of the Philippines' national flag. It's a bicolor horizontal flag with identical royal
blue and crimson red bands and a white, equilateral triangle at the hoist. A golden-yellow sun with eight
primary rays, each representing a Philippine province, sits in the middle of the triangle. A five-pointed
golden-yellow star appears at each vertex of the triangle, each representing one of the country's three
major island groups—Luzon, Visayas (though originally referring to Panay), and Mindanao. Liberty,
freedom, and fraternity are symbolized by the white triangle on the flag. When the red side of the flag is
placed on top, it essentially indicates a state of war, which can be accomplished by turning the flag
upside-down.
 The Philippine flag's design is derived from the flag family to which it belongs—that of the last
group of colonies seeking independence from the Spanish Empire at the end of the nineteenth century,
a group to which the Philippines belongs. Its design elements, which have been in use since General
Emilio Aguinaldo first conceived them—the stars and stripes; the red, white, and blue; the masonic
triangle; and the sun—are traced by the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic
Planning Office.

The painting "The Making of the Philippine Flag" was created to honor the importance of
independence in the Philippines during the pre-Colonial and Spanish colonial periods. The painting
depicts Marcela Mario de Agoncillo and her company's manual stitching the Philippine flag. The flag of
the Philippines was sewn at Marcela Agoncillo's home at 535 Morrison Hill in Hong Kong with the help of
her daughter Lorenza and Delfina Herbosa de Natividad, a niece of the martyr Jose Rizal, who were
tasked by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo to sew the first flag for the new republic, according to history books.
General Emilio Aguinaldo paid a visit to the Agoncillo residence during their voluntary exile in Hong Kong
after the signing of the Biak-na-Bato Pact on December 14, 1897. After meeting them, General Emilio
Aguinaldo requested Marcela Mario de Agoncillo to hand-sew a flag to his design that would reflect all
Filipinos' national aspirations. The process of manually sewing the flag took just a short time, but it was
complicated. According to history, Agoncillo personally delivered the flag on May 17, 1898, and it was
packed among the items of General Emilio Aguinaldo brought back to Manila, where it was hoisted from
the window of Aguinaldo's house in Kawit, Cavite, during the declaration of Philippine independence on
June 12, 1898, accompanied by the Philippine National Anthem Marcha Filipina. It is thought that
Amorsolo painted this to remind Filipinos to protect and value the country's national flag. This
demonstrates that we love our country, are proud of it, and are not ashamed of it because our
forefathers sacrificed their lives to free us from the hands of colonizers. Amorsolo's paintings clearly
demonstrate that he is a nationalist, as some of his works depict and commemorate various Filipino
traditions, cultures, and customs.

The Philippine Flag was sewed by 3 women namely; Marcela Marino de Agoncillo, Lorenza de
Agoncillo and Delfina Herbosa de Natividad. It has the colors of red, blue, white and yellow. Color red
stands for bravery and patriotism, the color blue symbolizes s peace, justice and truth while the white
represents liberty and equality. The 3 stars represents the island of the Philippines which is the Luzon,
Visayas and Mindanao and the 8 rays of the sun represents the 8 provinces (Manila, Cavite, Bulacan,
Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Laguna, Tarlac, and Batangas) that rose up against the Spanish colonial rule. The
flag serves as the identification of the Filipinos. It represents leadership, authority and power and also
the unity of the people.

With the use of four planes in analyzing the painting it gives us deeper understanding about the
painting “Making of the Philippine Flag” by Fernando Amorsolo. It makes us understand the meaning of
the colors and the symbols that is being used in the Philippine Flag. It also tells us story behind it,
history, importance and purpose of this Philippine Flag.
Group 3

Habierto, Anton

Kho, Chello

Inot, Hannah Carla

Jordan, Michelle

Lesaca, Jane Cresthyl

Lopez, Jenny Rose

References:

https://andreifrans.wordpress.com/2017/10/16/a-critique-paper-on-the-artwork-the-making-of-
philippine-flag-by-fernando-amorsolo

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcela_Agoncillo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_Philippines#Historical_flags_of_the_Philippine_Revolution
https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/1153/today-in-philippine-history-may-30-1892-fernando-
amorsolo-was-born-in-paco-manila