National Flag Day

The 28^th of May through the 12^th of June is Philippines National Flag Day. Throughout the celebration, all Filipinos are encouraged to display Philippine flag at their public and private offices, schools and even private homes. When the flag is displayed, the blue color should be on top. Putting the red color on top means the country is at war. Philippines National Flag Day is to commemorate the very first day the Philippine flag was flown freely after the Filipinos Revolutionary Army defeated Spanish Forces in the Battle of Alapan in 1898.

Philippines had been a colony of Spain for around three centuries, 1595 to 1898. Filipinos adopted the Spanish customs and traditions. Spanish highly influenced Filipinos in all aspects of their lives. In the early Spanish colonization, education was mostly religious oriented dominated by Roman Catholic Church. The two oldest universities in the Philippines are University of Santo Tomas and San Carlos University. University of Santo Tomas was founded in Manila, 1590 by Jesuits. University of San Carlos was founded in Cebu City in 1595. These schools are still operating until now honing Filipinos with their educational mandate.

Despite the cultural advancement offered by Spanish, Filipinos protested the authoritarianism making them slaves in their own country. Philippine Revolutionary Army was formed. As to how Filipinos survived American and Japanese wars, is another chapter of Philippine history.