Title
Specifications of the Philippine Flag
Law
Executive Order No. 23
Decision Date
Mar 25, 1936
Manuel L. Quezon establishes detailed specifications for the Philippine National Flag to ensure uniformity and adherence to constitutional provisions, addressing previous discrepancies in its construction and design.

Constitutional and statutory basis

  • The order is grounded on Article XIII, Section 1 of the Constitution, which prescribes what the Philippine National Flag should be without giving descriptions.
  • The order is also based on Act No. 2928, which describes the construction of the Filipino Flag.
  • The order addresses uneven compliance with Act No. 2928, which has produced disproportionate flag sizes and incorrect proportions of the flag’s allegorical symbols.
  • The order is enacted to ensure uniformity by following both the Constitutional provisions and Act No. 2928 with consistent specifications.

Purpose and uniformity mandate

  • The order requires uniform compliance to avoid irregularities and discrepancies in Philippine flag construction.
  • Government branches must observe the specifications to prevent making flags with incorrect proportions of the flag’s symbols.
  • The order mandates strict observance by all civil and military branches of the Government.

Flag size, geometric specifications

  • The maximum length of the flag is twice its width.
  • The minimum length is twice the altitude of the equilateral triangle.
  • Any side of the equilateral triangle is as long as the width of the flag.
  • The order requires that flag symbol layouts be measured using the specified geometric relationships tied to the flag’s width and the triangle.

Sunburst (golden sun) proportion rules

  • The golden sunburst must be solid and must show eight rays equally spaced.
  • The sun must have the form described in the accompanying illustration and proportion relationships:
    • Arc x with sun ray = free arc y.
    • Two opposite rays lie along the horizontal axis, and two opposite rays lie along the vertical axis.
    • The sun’s diameter D = w/5.
  • Each ray must have one major beam and two minor beams:
    • The major beam is twice as broad as the minor beam on either side.
  • The lengths of ray beams must follow:
    • Major beam length R = 5/9 D.
    • Minor beam length r = 4/5 R.
  • The illustration governs the exact appearance and placement of the sunburst features.

Stars (three five-pointed stars) rules

  • The flag must display three five-pointed golden stars of equal size.
  • Each star must be oriented so that one point is directed to the vertex of the angle enclosing it.
  • The star proportions must follow:
    • The diameter of the circumscribed circle of each star is 5/9 D.
    • The diameter of the inscribed circle of each star is 2/9 D.
  • The placement rule requires that the distance from each corner = D/2.

Left trimmed canvas edge measurement

  • The flag’s canvas-trimmed edge to the left of the triangle must be approximately D/5 wide.
  • That left trimmed edge is not counted in measuring the length of the flag.

Silk flags trimming requirement

  • Flags made of silk must be trimmed on three edges.
  • The trim must be a knotted fringe of yellow silk with width D/5.

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