The Philippine National Flag was designed by Emilio Aguinaldo, the first president of the Philippines and one of the heroes of the 1896 Philippine Revolution against Spain. The first Philippine Flag was sewn by Doña Marcela Marino de Agoncillo, Lorenza Agoncillo, and Delfina Herbosa de Natividad in Hong Kong and was first displayed in battle on May 28, 1898.

The flag’s design contains a sun with 8 rays which represents the first 8 of provinces who started the 1896 Philippine Revolution – Manila, Cavite, Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Laguna, and Batangas.. It also contains 3 stars which originally represents the 3 regions that fought in the 1896 Philippine Revolution – Luzon, Panay and Mindanao. But is later changed to the 3 main regions of the Philippines – Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.  It also contains a triangle to represent the emblem of Katipunan, the secret group who is against the Spanish rule. It has the colors red,white and blue to represent the Philippines’ gratitude towards America for fighting with them against the Spaniard but is later changed to horizontal red stripe for patriotism and valor, equilateral, white triange for equality and fraternity, and horizontal blue stripe for peace, truth, and justice.