It is believed that one of the first flags of the Philippines was like the one displayed above. It is hard to say this was the actual flag with the lack of a actual flag dating back to the independence and the Filipino-American War. The KKK on the flag stands for Kataastaasang Kagalanggalang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan ('Highest and Most Honorable Society of the Sons of the Nation') or Katipunan. The red field represents the signing with blood of the Katipunan’s oaths into the secret society.
The Filipino flag had variations (from 1892 to 1896). Some members arranged the KKK in a triangle while some generals of the revolution designed their own flags.
Bonifacio himself has a personal flag which consisted of a red rectangular piece of cloth at the center of which was a white sun with an indefinite number of rays. Below the sun were the three white K's arranged horizontally.
General Mariano Llanera used a black banner with a skull above two cross bones and the letter K, all in white. So different was this banner that Bonifacio humorously called it "Llanera's skull."
Another variation of the Filipino flag was that of General Pio del Pilar. It had an equilateral triangle with a K at each angle with a rising sun behind a mountain.
When the revolution flared up, the Magdalo faction of the Katipunan in Cavite adopted a flag consisting of a red rectangular banner with a white K in the ancient Tagalog script in the center of a sun, represented by a white circle and eight rays to represent the eight provinces which first took up arms against the Spaniards. This flag became the first official banner of the revolutionary forces and was blessed in a mass celebrated at Imus.
In the Naik Assembly of March 17, 1897, the Katipunan military leaders decided to adopt a flag with a new design. It consisted of a red rectangular cloth with a white sun and rays in the middle. The sun was the mythological sun with eyes, eyebrows, nose and mouth. This flag superseded the flag of the Magdalo faction and became the first official flag of the Filipinos. It became the symbol of the Filipino nationality until the signing of the Truce of Biyak-na-bato on December 14-15, 1897, when it was hauled down from the pole of the revolutionary headquarters at Biyak-na-bato.
The flag of General Gregorio del Pilar, the "Boy General." Flown during the Battle of Tirad Pass, Ilocos Sur. General del Pilar's forces allowed General Aguinaldo's retreating army to escape. The "Boy General" died at age 24 defending the pass on 2 December 1899.
The Philippine flag was sewn by the revolutionary junta in Hong Kong and first displayed in battle on May 28, 1898. It was formally unfurled during the proclamation of Philippine independence on June 12, 1898, by President Emilio Aguinaldo. The design adopted the mythical sun (with a face) common to many former Spanish colonies; the triangle of Masonry; the eight rays represent the first 8 provinces that revolted and were put under martial law by the Spaniards during the start of the Philippine Revolution in 1896; the flag was first unfurled with the blue stripe above, but was flown with the red stripe above upon the commencement of hostilities between the Filipinos and Americans in 1899. The white triangle stands for equality; the upper blue stripe for peace, truth and justice; and the lower red stripe for patriotism and valor.
On March 26, 1920, the Philippine Legislature passed Act. No 2928 which provided for the adoption of the Philippine flag as the official flag for the Philippine Islands. From 1919 until the eve of World War II, Flag Day would be celebrated on the 30th of October, the day the ban on the Philippine flag had been lifted in 1919.
In the Executive Order, various specifications were enumerated, which have come down, more or less unchanged, to the present. Among the "changes" laid down by the E.O. were the use of a plain sun ("solid golden sunburst without any markings") with eight rays composed of one major beam and a minor beam on either side, and an equilateral triangle ("Any side of the equilateral triangle is as long as the width of the flag"). However, the colors of the flag were not defined in detail. The result was the standardization of the flag, whose specifications have remained unchanged and in effect from 1936 to the present. The new dimensions and standardization, together with the American blue and red.
