The victory at Alapan and National Flag Day

On March 6, 1965, the President of the Philippines proclaimed May 28 as National Flag Day. May 28 was chosen because on that day in 1898, victorious Katipuneros carrying the Filipino flag that had arrived from Hongkong scored our very first victory against the Spaniards. Next week, we will celebrate the 44th National Flag Day. We wonder what celebrations, if any, are planned?

Flag Day used to be celebrated on October 30 because that was when the Americans allowed Philippine flags to be publicly displayed way back in 1919. But for historical reasons, President Diosdado Macapagal changed the date of the celebration from October 30 to May 28. The new date went farther back into history for May 28 marked the first Filipino victory against Spain after General Emilio Aguinaldo’s return from exile in Hongkong. The battle lasted only five hours and 270 Spanish marines surrendered with all their arms because they had no ammunition. It was in that battle that the Filipino flag was first displayed.

The Filipino flag has two very interesting stories. It was first unfurled on June 12, 1898, when Aguinaldo first proclaimed our independence. It was said that the colors red, white and blue were patterned after the American flag because the Americans had approached Aguinaldo when he was in exile in Hongkong, and offered, not only to take him back to Cavite but also to help in the battle against Spain. At that time, the American flag was called, “the red, white and blue” and the Filipino flag was “the red, white and blue with the sun shining through”. The triangle in our flag stood for the rallying cry of the French Revolution — liberty, equality and brotherhood.

When the Americans took Aguinaldo to Kawit, Aguinaldo lacked the second most important symbol of a nation — a national anthem. So he called Julian Felipe, who was the organist of the church of Cavite and asked him to compose our national anthem. Felipe had a deadline of one week. On June 12, 1898, Aguinaldo declared our independence and introduced both our national flag and our national anthem.

The start of our national anthem is reminiscent of the Spanish Marcha Real. Felipe said that was intentional because he wanted our anthem to have historical continuity. The middle portion was obviously influenced by Verdi’s Triumphal March, which was first played when the Suez Canal was inaugurated, which by coincidence, happened the same year Aguinaldo was born. The concluding part of our national anthem was also obviously inspired by the opening chords of the French National Anthem La Marseillaise.

We believe that Flag Day should be commemorated with a display of the Philippine Flag from May 28 to June 12. It was also President Diosdado Macapagal who changed the celebration of our Independence Day from July 4 to June 12. In short, our Independence Day was when General Aguinaldo proclaimed it and not when the Americans “granted” it decades later.

Government offices and educational institutions should be at the forefront of our Flag Day celebration. Flags have been the rallying symbols of a nation for at least 3,000 years.