What's new with this Philippine flag?
If you have a sharp eye particularly to the details of the Philippine flag, you would notice that in this version, the sun would have nine rays instead of the usual eight. This is more or less what the flag would look like as soon as the Senate and House of Representatives ratifies next week the reconciled version of Senate Bill 3307 and House Bill 6424 which provides for the inclusion of additional ray in the sun. Apparently, the ninth ray was proposed to be added to symbolize the "the courage, bravery and integrity of Muslim Filipinos who fought for the nation's independence" and hopes that this would "foster greater unity among Filipinos regardless of religion." The whole story can be read here: Yahoo! News Philippines: http://ph.news.yahoo.com/gma/20090924/tph-senate-house-panels-ok-bill-adding-9-d6cd5cf.html .
The ninth ray represents the importance to "recognize the efforts and contributions of the Muslim Filipinos in the country's history so that they would not feel marginalized and Filipinos would be united regardless of creed". The Muslim community has greeted this proposal with enthusiasm, signifying that they are gradually "being respected, understood, and accepted". Link: http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2009/0924_gordon1.asp
From a design perspective, I personally think that our flag is one of the most beautifully designed flags in the world, and this news particularly worried me because any tampering with it would ruin this perfection. In the mock-up I created above, somehow, the changes are not that noticeable. In fact, the addition of the 9th ray causes a subtle asymmetry which somehow adds visual allure, mystery and dynamism to the sun. Of course, one has to consider the historical facts behind the development of our flag's design, and whether the rest of the Filipino community would be open to such changes (Nice read: http://filipinovoices.com/no-to-flag-cha)
What do you think?
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