Thursday, September 14, 2023

Trivia: Flag of the Marinduque Revolutionary Forces!



There was such a flag of the Marinduque Revolutionary Forces under the command of Col. Maximo Abad. The said flag fell into the hands of American forces in Marinduque in a skirmish in 1901 and is described as “a field flag measuring 18x30 inches. Its colors are red, white and blue with but two bars and a triangle white. In the triangle are handpainted characters representing the sun, surrounded by three large stars, which are black. The material of the flag is ordinary bunting”.

The above drawing is one version only of the flag posted by watawat.net based on a written description. Full text of the undated newspaper clipping, main source of the information, is found below.


Full text of the mentioned article: "Senator W.A. Harris has received a Filipino flag from Major Whitman, formerly a member of the famous twentieth Kansas regiment, who is now in the Philippines. Major Whitman is serving in the second  infantry, U.S.A. as a first lieutenant. The flag was captured in a recent skirmish on the Island of Marinduque. It is a field flag and measures 18x30 inches. Its colors are red, white and blue, with but two bars and a triangle white. In the triangle are handpainted characters representing the sun, surrounded by three large stars, which are black. The material of the flag is ordinary bunting. Senator Harris also recived a copy of the Filipino constitution, which was captured at Tacloban,  Isle of Leyte. It is a diminutive edition, being a handy size to carry in the pocket. It is said that every Filipino soldier carries with him at all times a copy of their constitution. The copy which Senator Harrris has possession of is the property of Senor Bernabe Odayate, whose name is very legibly inscribed on the cover."


Information about this flag came to the knowledge of local historical researcher, Curtis Shepard, and was shared with this blogger years ago. Shepard maintains a blog, ulongbeach.com devoted to publication of research materials on Marinduque's past.