Flag of the Philippines

The national flag of the Philippines (Pambansang watawat ng Pilipinas) is a horizontal bicolor flag with equal bands of royal blue and crimson red, with a white, equilateral triangle at the hoist. In the center of the triangle is a golden-yellow sun with eight primary rays, each representing a province. At each vertex of the triangle is a five-pointed, golden-yellow star, each of which representing one of the country's three main island groups—Luzon, Visayas (though originally referring to the island of Panay), and Mindanao. The white triangle at the hoist represents liberty, equality, and fraternity. A unique feature of this flag is its usage to indicate a state of war if it is displayed with the red side on top, which is effectively achieved by flipping the flag upside-down. The flag's length is twice its width, giving it an aspect ratio of 1:2. The length of all the sides of the white triangle are equal to the width of the flag. Each star is oriented in such manner that one of its tips points towards the vertex at which it is located. Moreover, the gap-angle between two neighbors of the 8 ray-bundles is as large as the angle of one ray-bundle (so 22.5°), with each major ray having double the thickness of its two minor rays. The golden sun is not exactly in the center of the triangle but shifted slightly to the right. The shade of blue used in the flag has varied over time, beginning with the original color described as Azul Oscuro (Spanish, "dark blue"). The exact nature of this shade is debated, but a likely candidate is the blue on which a theory says influenced the Philippine flag's design. The colors of the flag were first standardized by President Ramón Magsaysay, upon the recommendation of the Philippine Historical Committee (PHC) dated January 24, 1955. Specifically, the colors adopted were Old Glory Red (Cable No. 70180), National Flag Blue (Cable No. 70077), Spanish Yellow (Cable No. 70068), and White (70001) by the Reference Guide of the Textile Color Card Association of the United States.