Friday, June 12, 2009

Our National Flag: what is signifies?


The national flag of the Philippines is a horizontal bicolor with equal bands of blue and red, and with a white equilateral triangle based at the hoist side; in the center of the triangle is a golden yellow sun with eight primary rays, each containing three individual rays; and at each corner of the triangle is a five-pointed golden yellow star. The flag is displayed with the blue field on top in times of peace, and with the red field on top in times of war.
The Philippine flag was first conceptualized by General Emilio Aguinaldo in 1897 during his exile in Hong Kong, drawing inspiration from the flags used by the Katipunan and the Cuban revolutionaries. The first flag was sewn by Marcela Agoncillo, her daughter Lorenza, and Doña Delfina Herbosa de Natividad, niece of José Rizal, the Philippines' national hero. Act 1696, known as the Flag Law, was passed on September 6, 1907. This law proscribed the Philippine flag and banned the use of the Philippine national anthem. In 1919, Senator Rafael Palma sponsored the Senate Bill No. 1, a bill repealing the Flag Law of 1907 following Gov. Gen. Francis Harrison’s recommendation that the law should be repealed since the distrust between the Filipinos and the Americans no longer exists.[1] On 24 October 1919, Act No. 2871 was approved and signed by Gen. Harrison; thus, the Flag Law of 1907 was repealed.[1] The use of the National Flag and other Heraldic Items of the Philippines is regulated by the National Historical Institute by mandate of Act 8491.

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