Flag of the Philippines

What the flag of the Philippines looks like

The flag of the Philippines is a horizontal bicolor of royal blue over scarlet red, with a white equilateral triangle on the hoist side (the left, nearest the pole). The ratio is 1:2, so the flag is twice as long as it is tall.

Inside the triangle are two kinds of golden-yellow symbols. In the center is a sun with eight primary rays. A small five-pointed star sits at each of the three corners of the triangle. The sun and stars are all in the same gold shade.

The flag is easy to mix up with a few others that also have a triangle at the hoist, such as the flags of Cuba and the Czech Republic. The Philippine flag is set apart by the golden sun and three stars inside the triangle.

You can see how it appears as an emoji on the Philippines flag emoji page.

Philippine flag meaning and symbolism

According to the official description, the white triangle stands for liberty, equality and fraternity. The blue stripe stands for peace, truth and justice, and the red stripe for patriotism and valor.

The golden sun symbolizes unity, freedom, people's democracy and sovereignty, and its eight rays represent eight provinces that took a leading part in the 1896 revolution against Spain. Sources differ on which: one list is Bulacan, Cavite, Pampanga, Laguna, Batangas, Tarlac and Nueva Ecija plus the district of Morong, while research by Ambeth Ocampo names the first eight provinces placed under martial law (Batangas, Bulacan, Cavite, Manila, Laguna, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga and Tarlac). The three stars stand for the three main island groups of the country: Luzon, the Visayas (originally Panay) and Mindanao.

One feature is unique to this flag. In peacetime the blue stripe is flown at the top. In a state of war, the flag is hung with the red stripe on top. This is what makes the flag special among national flags: it is the only official country flag that can be flipped when the country is at war.

History of the Philippine flag

The first revolutionary banners were made by the Katipunan, the secret society that began the revolt against Spain in 1896. The first Katipunan flag was red with three white Ks. The national flag was designed by Emilio Aguinaldo and sewn by Marcela Mariño Agoncillo, her daughter Lorenza and Delfina Herbosa Natividad.

The flag was first displayed at the Battle of Alapan on 28 May 1898 and was formally unfurled on 12 June 1898 in Kawit, Cavite, when Aguinaldo proclaimed independence from Spain. That date is still celebrated as Independence Day, even though the country did not become independent from the United States until 4 July 1946.

Under American rule, displaying the flag was banned by the Flag Act of 1907, which was repealed on 24 October 1919. The shade of blue has varied over time: the colors were first standardized in 1955, a 1985 order to restore the original color was rescinded after the 1986 People Power Revolution, and Royal Blue was designated in the Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines (Republic Act 8491), signed in 1998.

National Flag Day is 28 May and Independence Day is 12 June, and in recent years flag days have been extended from 28 May to 30 June.

Interesting facts about the Philippine flag

• The flag is the only one in the world whose display position changes when the country is at war.
• The triangle was a Katipunan symbol and was kept in the national flag.
• A bill to add a ninth ray to the sun, for example to represent Filipino Muslims, was approved by Congress in 2009 but vetoed by President Arroyo.