List of Philippine flags

This is a list of flags used in the Philippines.

National flag

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1998–present	National flag of the Philippines	A horizontal bicolor of equal bands of blue and red, with a white equilateral chevron spanning the width of the hoist. Within the chevron are three five-pointed stars (fixed on each of the vertices), and a sun with eight major rays (set in the center), all in yellow.

Governmental flags

Flag	Date	Use	Description
Executive branch
	2004–present	Flag of the president of the Philippines	The coat of arms of the president of the Philippines against a blue field. The number of stars correspond to the number of provinces.
	2004–present	Flag of the vice president of the Philippines	The presidential arms against a white field.
	1946–1947	Flag of the president of the Philippines	The coat of arms of the Philippines against a blue field with four golden stars on each corner.
	1947–1951	Flag of the president of the Philippines	The presidential arms (minus the circle of stars) against a blue field with four golden stars on each corner.
	1951–1979	Flag of the president of the Philippines	The 1948 design, with the four golden stars replaced by a ring of golden stars. The number of stars theoretically changed as the number of provinces changed.[1]
	1980–1986	Flag of the president of the Philippines	The flag's shade became a lighter blue, and the red triangle was inverted. The sea-lion was replaced by a golden eagle, bearing three branches and arrows, and the ring of stars were changed to white.
	1986–2004	Flag of the president of the Philippines	The coat of arms of the president of the Philippines with white as the color of the stars against a light blue field.
	1986–2004	Flag of the vice president of the Philippines	The former vice presidential seal against a white field.
Legislative branch
	1987	Flag of the president of the Senate	The seal of the Senate against a red field.
	1987	Flag of the speaker of the House	The seal of the House of Representatives against a yellow field.
Executive branch
	1987	Flag of the Department of Health	The seal of the Department of Health against a yellow field.
	1987	Flag of the Department of Science and Technology	The logo of the Department of Science and Technology against a white field.
	1986	Flag of the Department of Tourism	A horizontal triband of yellow (top and bottom) and white with the seal of the Department of Tourism centered on the white band.
	1987	Flag of the Department of Finance	The seal of the Department of Finance against a violet field.
	1987	Flag of the Department of Agriculture	The logo of the Department of Agriculture with the department's name in both Tagalog and English in Times New Roman against a white field.
	2022	Flag of the Department of Migrant Workers	The coat of arms of the Philippines with the department's name in Old English Text against a white field.
Judicial branch
	1946	Flag of the Supreme Court	The seal of the Supreme Court against a purple field.
	1978	Flag of the Sandiganbayan	The seal of the Sandiganbayan against a maroon field.
	1946	Flag of the Court of Appeals	The seal of the Court of Appeals against an olive green field.
		Flag of the Court of Tax Appeals	The seal of the Court of Tax Appeals against a sky blue field.
Other government offices
		Customs ensign	Navy blue and white vertical bands with a white canton bearing a gold sea-lion bearing a sword.
		Flag of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority	Seal of the MMDA on a white field.
		Flag of the DPWH-ARMM / Ministry of Public Works of Bangsamoro	Seal of the regional office/ministry on a sky blue field.

Military flags

Flag	Date	Use	Description
(1936–1985, 1986–1998) (1998–present)	Only during a state of war	State and War flag	The national flag, hoisted with red and blue fields inverted, unique among the national flags.
	2005–present	Flag of the Philippine Armed Forces	Coat of arms of the Armed Forces of the Philippines on a triband field that consists the color: navy blue, dark blue, and army green that represents the 3 main branches of the Philippine Armed Forces.
	2005–present	Flag of the Philippine Army	Seal of the Philippine Army on a dark green field.
	2002–present	Flag of the Philippine Navy	Seal of the Philippine Navy on a dark blue field.
	2005–present	Flag of the Philippine Air Force	Seal of the Philippine Air Force on a blue field.
	2004–present	Flag of the Philippine Marine Corps	Coat of arms of the Philippine Marine Corps on a blue field, flanked by ribbons bearing the organization's name in English and motto in Tagalog.

Philippine coast guard flags

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1998–present	Flag of the Philippine Coast Guard	Seal of the Philippine Coast Guard on a dark blue field.

Civil flags

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1903–present	Coastwise Emblem of the Philippines	White flag with a blue and red star on the horizontal median line.

Historical national flags

Flag	Date	Use	Description
The Spanish East Indies (1565–1898)
	1565–1762, 1764–1821	Flag used when the Philippine Islands were a part of New Spain.	The Cross of Burgundy: a red saltire resembling two crossed, roughly-pruned branches, on a white field.
	1762–1764	Flag during the British occupation of the Philippines, as used in occupied Manila and Cavite.	The flag of the British East India Company before 1810: A flag with red and white stripes with the Kingdom of Great Britain's Union Flag as a canton. The Union flag bears red cross on a white field, commonly called St George's Cross, superimposed on a white saltire on a blue field, known as St Andrew's Cross. Also known as the "King's Colours".
	1821–1873	Used during Spanish East Indies period.	Three horizontal stripes of red, weld-yellow and red, the centre stripe being twice as wide as each red stripe with arms in the first third of the weld-yellow stripe. The arms are crowned and vertically divided, the left red field with a tower representing Castille, the right white field with a lion representing León.
	1873–1874	Used by the Spanish East Indies under the First Spanish Republic.	Three horizontal stripes: red, weld-yellow and red, the yellow strip being twice as wide as each red stripe with arms in the first third of the yellow stripe. Royal crown removed from arms.
	1874–1898	Used during Spanish East Indies after the restoration of the Spanish monarchy.	The flag of the Kingdom of Spain used prior to the First Spanish Republic was reinstated.
Philippine Revolution – First Philippine Republic
	1898–1901	The flag design was conceived by President Emilio Aguinaldo. The exact shade of blue is debated; many variants were used by subsequent governments.	Sewn by Marcela Marino de Agoncillo, Lorenza Agoncillo, and Delfina Herbosa de Natividad in Hong Kong and first flown in battle on May 28, 1898. It was formally unfurled during the Proclamation of Philippine Independence and the flag of the First Philippine Republic, on June 12, 1898 by President Aguinaldo. It contains a mythical sun (with a face) similar to the Sun of May in other former Spanish colonies; the triangle of Freemasonry; the eight rays representing eight rebellious provinces of the Philippines first placed under martial law by the Governor-General. Some flags carry the Spanish texts: Fuerzas Expedicionarias del Norte de Luzon on its obverse and Libertad Justicia e Ygualdad on its reverse, which means "Northern Luzon Expeditionary Forces" and "Liberty, Justice, and Equality" respectively.
American and Commonwealth Period (1898–1946)
	1898–1908	Used while under direct administration from the United States of America.	The Philippine Commission, 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. Thirteen horizontal stripes of alternating red and white representing the original Thirteen Colonies; in the canton, white stars on a blue field, the number of stars increased as the United States expanded its territory.
	1908–1912	Variant after Oklahoma became a state
	1912–1919	Variant after Arizona and New Mexico achieved statehood
	1919–1936	From October 30, 1919,[2] two flags were flown in the Philippines: the American flag and the flag conceived by Emilio Aguinaldo which was made the national flag of the Philippines with the repealing of Act No. 1697.[3]	The American flag remained unchanged since 1919. For the Philippine flag, the design conceived by Emilio Aguinaldo remained but the shades of blue and red were adopted from the American flag. The sun's face was removed, but its stylized rays were retained. There existed many versions of the flag as no official design had been codified.
	1936–1946		Specifications standardized; Defined under Executive Order No. 23, s. 1936 which was signed on March 25, 1936. The de facto shade of blue used was Cable No. 70077 or "National Flag Blue" by the Reference Guide of the Textile Color Card Association of the United States.[4] The triangle was made equilateral and the sun's rays were also further simplified, achieving its present form. Also used by the Commonwealth government-in-exile from 1942 to 1945.
Japanese Period (1942–1945)
	1942–1943	Used during the Japanese Occupation.	The Japanese flag as it appeared until 1999: a red sun-disc, shifted 1% left of centre, on a white field.
	October 14, 1943	Used during the inauguration of the Second Republic.	Emilio Aguinaldo's flag was hoisted upon proclamation of the Second Republic. However, the design as used by the Commonwealth remained.
Sovereignty (1946–present)
	1946–1985	Following independence, the 1936 design specifications standardized by President Manuel L. Quezon sported a shade of blue currently called National Flag Blue. Initially having de facto standing, it was officially adopted in 1955. In 1985, the shade of blue was updated to Oriental Blue, this change would later be rescinded in favor of pre-1985 National Flag Blue.[5] In 1998, the flag gained its present definitive shade of blue currently called Royal Blue.	Defined under Executive Order No. 23, s. 1936 dated March 25, 1936. The shade of blue used here is Cable No. 70077 or "National Flag Blue" by the Reference Guide of the Textile Color Card Association of the United States. The particular shade of blue had de facto standing until January 24, 1955, when President Ramón Magsaysay upon the recommendation of the Philippine Heraldry Committee (PHC) officially adopted Cable No. 70077 or "National Flag Blue" as the official shade of blue to be used.[6][7]
	1985–1986		Executive Order No. 1010, s. 1985 was issued by President Ferdinand E. Marcos on February 25, 1985 instructing the National Historical Institute (NHI) "to restore the original color of the First Philippine Flag" amidst debate on the shade used in the original flag. The executive order declared that "the shade of the color blue was lighter than the present dark blue". The executive order did not specify a shade of blue to be adopted. A de facto version of the flag which featured a light blue was used in April 1985 despite NHI not having announced its recommendation. The NHI in May 1985, adopted Cable No. 80176 or "Oriental Blue" for the new national flag.[8]
	1986–1998		1936 version of the flag restored after the 1986 People Power Revolution. President Corazon C. Aquino restored the pre-1985 National Flag Blue specifications of the flag through Executive Order No. 292, s. 1987 which was signed on July 25, 1987.[9]
	1998–present		The Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines (Republic Act. 8491, s. 1998) specifies the colors for the blue field Cable No. 80173; the white field, Cable No. 80001; the red field, Cable No. 80108; and the golden-yellow Stars and Sun, Cable No. 80068. The colors were introduced in the same year that the Centennial celebrations were to take place.[10][11][12]

Regional flags

Among the country's 17 regions, only the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao has its own officially legislated regional flag. The purported flag of the Cordillera Administrative Region — which has no elected regional government that could legally specify the details of the reported emblem — has not been attested.^[13]

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1992–2019	Regional flag of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao	A horizontal tricolor of equal blue (top), white (middle) and red (bottom) stripes. Top stripe bears one yellow five-pointed star; the middle stripe, a green circle filled with yellow elements — a tilted crescent moon nearly enclosing four smaller five-pointed stars; the bottom stripe, a silver kris.[14] The number of smaller stars, meant to represent the number of the region's constituent provinces, has de facto varied from four (1992–2001), to five (2001–2006), to six (2006–2008) to five again (2006–2019), but because the flag specifications contained within the 1992 law (Muslim Mindanao Autonomy Act No. 12) were not amended the original flag remained the only de jure official design.[15]
	2019–present	Regional flag of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao	A horizontal tricolor of equal green (top), white (middle) and red (bottom) stripes. Charge in the center of the middle stripe is a yellow crescent moon enclosing a seven-pointed star.[16]
	1988–1995[13]	Purported[13] flag of the Cordillera Administrative Region	A horizontal bicolor of green (top) and yellow (bottom), centered upon which is a charge consisting of a Cordillera warrior shield bearing the CAR Regional Development Council (RDC) logo adopted in 1988, when Kalinga–Apayao was still a single province.[13]

Provincial flags

Main article: Flags of the provinces of the Philippines

Municipal and city flags

Main article: Flags of cities and municipalities in the Philippines

Like the flags of most Philippine provinces, flags of cities and municipalities usually just bear the seal of the municipality or city on a single or multi colored field, but there are some municipal or city flags that differ from the standard. All municipalities in the province of Camarines Norte and Aklan bear flags that differ from the standard.

Flag	Date	Use	Description
		Municipal flag of Balilihan, Bohol
		Municipal flag of Garcia Hernandez, Bohol
	2003–present	Municipal flag of Kalilangan, Bukidnon	Blue and green horizontal stripes with a white canton bearing a sun surrounded by 14 stars. Adopted on June 9, 2003 through Municipal Council Resolution No. 2003-315.[17]
		Municipal flag of Maribojoc, Bohol	Stripe of green, white, and blue with a sun in the middle bearing the silhouette of a church
		Municipal flag of San Mateo, Rizal	Light sky blue field with a white stripe on the center bearing an eight-pointed sun and a palm frond
		Municipal flag of Bustos, Bulacan
	1995–present	Flag of Cavite City
		Flag of Mandaluyong

Other historical flags

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	c. 1515–1888	Flag of the Sultanate of Maguindanao	A plain yellow flag
	1762–1763	Flag of the Palaris Revolt	"...it was two "varas" long and a trifle more narrow; at each corner it had a two-headed eagle, and in the center an escutcheon with its border, and within it the Arms of the Dominican Order..."[18]
	18th century	Flag of the Sulu Sultanate	Flag of Sulu Sultanate according to Pierre Sonnerat
	1807	Flags of the Basi Revolt
	1845–1898	Provincial ensign of the province of Manila
	1886–1898	Provincial ensign of IloIlo
	1872	Flag of the Cavite Mutiny
	Late 19th century	Flag of the Sulu Sultanate
	1898	Flag of the Negros Revolution	Banner used by Negrense revolutionaries during their revolution
	1898–1901	Flag of the Republic of Negros
	1902–1906	Flag of the Tagalog Republic
	1956–1974	Flag of the Free Territory of Freedomland	The flag of Freedomland, a micronation founded by Tomas Cloma in the Spratly Islands (Kalayaan, Palawan)

Political flags

Flag	Date	Use	Description
Current
	2012–present	Flag of the Maute group, Khalifa Islamiyah Mindanao and Ansar Khalifa Philippines
	2001–present	Flag of the MNLF Executive Council of 15
	1996–present	Flag of the Moro National Liberation Front
	1995–present	Flag of the Revolutionary Workers' Party
	1977–present	Flag of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front
	1973–present	Flag of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines
Link to file	1969–present	Flag of the New People's Army
	1968–present	Flags of the Communist Party of the Philippines
Former
	1986 and 1990	Proposed flags of the Federal Republic of Mindanao
	1986–2011	Flags of the Cordillera People's Liberation Army
	1968–1969	Flags of the Muslim Independence Movement
	1942–1945	Flag of the KALIBAPI
	1942–1954	Flag of the Hukbalahap
	1941–1945	Flag of the Wha-Chi
	1936–1945	Flag of the Philippine Falange	Falange flag used in the Philippines

Flag proposals

Flag	Date proposed	Use	Description
	1998, 2008	National Flag	Ninth ray for the flag's sun
	2014	National Flag	Emmanuel L. Osorio's proposal. Addition of a ninth ray to represent the Muslim and indigenous people and a fourth star for Sabah.

See also

• Flag of the Philippines
• Coat of Arms of the Philippines
• Flags of the Philippine provinces
• Flags of the Philippine Revolution
  • Evolution of the Philippine Flag

Notes

References

1. "Philippines: President and Vice President". www.crwflags.com.
2. "Today in History". Presidential Museum and Library. October 30, 2013. Archived from the original on May 10, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
3. "Act No. 1696, s. 1907". Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. Supreme Court Library. August 23, 1907. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
4. Agbayani, Eufemio III (May 29, 2021). "1985: A Year of Three Shades of Blue". National Historical Commission of the Philippines. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
5. Agbayani, Eufemio III (May 29, 2021). "1985: A Year of Three Shades of Blue". National Historical Commission of the Philippines. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
6. Agbayani, Eufemio III (May 29, 2021). "Construction Sheet: Philippine Republic Flag". National Historical Commission of the Philippines. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
7. Agbayani, Eufemio III (May 29, 2021). "1985: A Year of Three Shades of Blue". National Historical Commission of the Philippines. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
8. Agbayani, Eufemio III (May 29, 2021). "1985: A Year of Three Shades of Blue". National Historical Commission of the Philippines. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
9. Agbayani, Eufemio III (May 29, 2021). "1985: A Year of Three Shades of Blue". National Historical Commission of the Philippines. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
10. "Republic Act No. 8491". Government of the Philippines. February 12, 1998. (archived from the original Archived December 5, 2007, at the Wayback Machine on December 5, 2007).
11. "The Philippine National Flag" (PDF). Monuments and Heraldry division, National Historical institute. National Commission for Culture and the Arts. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 27, 2012.
12. "Flag of the Philippines". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
13. "CAR flag discussion". Philippine Vexillological Association. June 10, 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
14. "Muslim Mindanao Autonomy Act No. 12 – An Act adopting an official regional emblem for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and appropriating funds thereof" (PDF). ARMM Regional Legislative Assembly. July 16, 1992. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 8, 2016. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
15. Villapando, J.A. (November 15, 2017). "Flag of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao". Philippine Vexillological Association. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
16. Kar, Nilay (August 24, 2019). "Philippines: Official flag of Bangsamoro adopted". Anadolu Agency. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
17. "Municipality of Kalilangan Socie-Economic Profile 2010". Municipality of Kalilangan, Bukidnon. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
18. "Watawat: Flags and Seals of the Pearl of the Orient seas". Pablo Paddeu. Retrieved June 10, 2020.