The History

of the Philippine Flag

 During the Philippine Centennial celebration, a set of 10 flags were
prominently flown over every institution and government-owned buildings. This
set of 10 flags became popularly known as the Evolution of the Philippine Flag.
What Evolution?
Philippine historians have raised issues and have rightfully challenged the
claims of the set of 10 being the Evolution of the Philippine Flag. According to the
Manila Historical Institute and the National Historical Institute, the set of flags,
excluding the present-day flag, are rightfully called Mga Bandila ng Rebolusyong
Pilipino or The Flags of the Philippine Revolution.
Another issue raised by historians is the fact that these flags merely represent
a fraction of the Katipunan battalions. Hence, these flags can hardly be referred to
as the Flags of the Philippine Revolution. It could only be concluded that calling
this set of flags “Evolution” is very misleading, as our present day flag did not
evolved from these Katipunan flag. It is true however that some of its features
were taken from these flags, but then again, it did not evolved from it. It is also
true that the flags of the Katipunan have never taken as a nationally recognized
symbol as to represent the Filipino nation.
Katipunan Councils
There are two prominent factions of the Katipunan led respectively by Andres Bonificio and Emilio
Aguinaldo. Both gained support from different sectors of the Katipunan.
Bonificio had his Magdiwang Council and Aguinaldo had his Magdalo Council.

The Magdiwang Council had a sun with sixteen- (16) rays.

It uses the similar red background of the Katipunan flag.
Some historians say that the number of rays is indefinite
however. This flag was believed to be the flag present
when the Katipuneros tore their cedulas upon their discovery.
The Magdalo Council flag also used
the sun. It had a preHispanic “K”
superimposed on the center. The
sun had eight- (8) rays to represent
the first eight- (8) provinces that
pledged its support to fight under
Aguinaldo’s banner and to start the
Philippine revolution.
The Revolutionary Government

The leaders of the Katipunan decided to fight under

Aguinaldo’s banner. Aside from being formally educated,
Aguinaldo was winning his battles while Bonifacio was
struck by a number of losses. For this same reason,
Aguinaldo’s flag was said to have become the basis for the
design of the new flag of the revolutionary government – the Sun
of Liberty. This same revolutionary government was responsible
for ordering the execution of Andres Bonifacio. Bonificio
was charged with treason for inciting rebellion against the
new government.
The flag was approved on March 17, 1897 in Naic, Cavite.
Battalion Flags
One of the most criticized part of the proposed evolution of the Philippine flag is the
inclusion of three battalion flags of the Katipunan. Historians believe that if these flags were
to be included into the evolution, other battalion flags should be considered as well.
According to many historians, these flags never took the significance of a national symbol.
These flag does not come in any significant order.

The first flag was the flag of General Mariano Llanera

who fought in the province of Bulacan, Tarlac, Pampanga,
and Nueva Ecija. His flag was most famously called Bungo ni
Llanera or Llaner’s Skull. Unlike most of the Katipunan
banners, his was on a black background.
 The second flag is that of Pio del Pilar, one of Aguinaldo’s most trusted Generals.
Due to his many victories, his flag was famously called Ang Bandila ng Matagumpay
or The Flag of the Victorious. Superimposed on the famous red
background was a triangle (believed to be an equilateral triangle). Each corner of
the triangle bears the letter K and on the triangle’s center is a rising sun with eight
rays.
 The third and last flag is the flag of Gregorio del Pilar, the youngest general of
the Katipunan and fondly called as the boy general. His flag was patterned after
Cuba, already a former Spanish colony at the time. His flag was the first to use
three colors. The flag took its last stand against the Americans in Tirad Pass, Ilocos
Sur, defending the retreating armies of Aguinaldo.
 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.”
1898 – 1901
 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
• During Aguinaldo’s exile in Hong Kong, he and the Junta Patriotica or the Patriotic Council devised
was is to be known as the flag to represent the first Philippine republic.
• The flag was sewn by Marcela Agoncillo, Lorenza Agoncillo, and Delfina Natividad. It was sewn at
353 Morrison Hill, Hong Kong.
• This same flag was the flag raised during the declaration of the Philippine independence in Kawit,
Cavite, on June 12, 1898.
• Unlike the present day flag, the original flag had a mythological sun with a face, similar to the flag
flown by the revolutionary government.
• By the fall of the first Philippine republic and when the American colonial power took control of the
islands, sedition laws took into effect that banned the display of the flag of the first republic. It was
until 1919 when the ban was lifted.
• The flag retained the dimensions of the Aguinaldo’s flag as well as the Mythological sun, but without
a face. Historians believe that the original flag used the red and blue colors of the Cuban flag and
was changed to the American colors since the American colors where the only cloth colors available
during the era.
• In 1936, the Philippines became a Commonwealth of the United States of the America.
• By executive order, Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon specified the dimensions of the flag
which became the standardized specification of the flag followed up to the present time.
Debates Rages On
The color blue on the flag is one of the topics being debated by historians. The list of
blues includes: the Cuban blue, dark blue, sky blue, navy blue (American blue), and the Yale
blue. The American blue was the shade used for most of the flag’s lifetime as a national
symbol and was changed during the Marcos era into sky blue, but was reverted back to the
American blue during the Aquino administration. As a resolution to the moot point, the
Philippine Centennial Commission officially changed the shade to Royal Blue in 1998.
The religious sector debates the sun as being a Christian symbol. Many believe that a
Crescent Moon should be added to symbolize the Muslims and a Budong Cane as well to
represent the native Cordillera people.
A recent addition to the debate is the proposal to add a 9th ray to the sun to represent
the Muslim nation and the native Cordillera people who fought for independence from
Spanish colonial rule. Also, the late statesman Blas Ople, serving as Foreign Affairs
Secretary, called on historians and constitutionalist to include Quezon Province as one of
the provinces represented in the rays of the sun. He cited the historical battle of the
Confradia de San Jose a group organized by Apolinario “Hermano Pule” de la Cruz who won
a battle against Spanish authorities on October 23, 1841.
Reference:
• http://malacanang.gov.ph/3846-origin-of-the-symbols-of-our-
national-flag/
• http://malacanang.gov.ph/history-of-the-philippine-flag/