Respect for the flag

THE OFFICIAL Gazette and the records of the Senate and the House of Representatives will show anyone who cares to read them that we do not lack for laws. It amuses me that the solution to every problem seems to be enacting a new law or ordinance somewhere. Our problem is not in the quantity or quality of existing laws; it is compliance and enforcement that are lacking.

Over the past week, I have been watching all the political advertisements on television, noting how aspiring government officials are packaged for public consumption. TV news also gives us reports on the campaigns of the various candidates for public office. I have noticed that the flag or the colors of the flag seem to be in the background all the time. One who is familiar with the Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines (Republic Act 8491) can easily spot a number of infractions, the most glaring of which is the wearing by candidates of shirts resembling the flag. It is one thing to wave a flag or to wear a flag patch, but to use the design of the flag on a shirt makes one uneasy, whether there is a law or no law banning it.

There is much about respect for the flag that I learned as a Boy Scout: how to raise it, how to lower it, how to fold it and how dispose of it when it is worn or tattered. One would think that all citizens of the Philippines would know this, but you will be surprised at what many people do not know.

For example, we all know that one of the significant features of our flag (as compared with the flags of other countries) is that it can signify a state of war or a state of peace. When the flag is flown on a flagpole, we have the blue field on top in time of peace and the red field up in time of war.

But when the flag is hung on the wall how should it be done? Once, when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was reading a speech in the Japanese Diet, some people noticed that the flag was hung in a way that signified war. The quick excuse was that the photograph sent to the newspapers was reversed. When that was found to be false, the blame was shifted to Japanese protocol officers who could not be expected to know all the intricacies of our flag. Eventually our own protocol officers had to accept the blame.

When the flag is hung vertically on a wall, we all know that the sun and the stars should be on top not below, but where to put the blue and red fields can be confusing. The blue field should be on the left (from the observer's point of view) in times of peace and the red field on the left (again from the observer's viewpoint) in times of war.

We all know that the flag should be handled with reverence and respect and that it should not be allowed to touch the ground. So I was surprised to find out that the flag can be tied into a knot and flown on a flagpole as a distress signal.

Then there are some practical but esoteric provisions in the code. For example, when flown with the flags of other countries, our flag should be of equal size to the others, and each flag should be placed on separate staffs (not one on top of another, like pork on a barbecue stick). Our flag, naturally, is hoisted first and lowered last.

When displayed in a semicircle of flags with other countries, our flag should be at the center - unless, of course, our flag is flying abroad and then the host country's flag takes precedence. When displayed in a row or in a parade with flags of other countries, the flag shall be on the left (from observer's point of view) of the other flags. Then the flags of other countries should be arranged in alphabetical order from left to right.

Reading the law can make for some boring reading, so it was good idea that the National Historical Institute, or NHI (as the implementing agency of RA 8491), published an illustrated guide to the Flag Code and its implementing rules and regulations. Published in 2002 and with an introduction by Teodoro S. Atienza, chief of the NHI Flag and Heraldry Division, it makes following the law easier.

Obviously we do not mutilate, deface, defile, trample on, cast contempt, etc. on the symbol of our country. We do not use the flag as draper, festoon tablecloth, or as a pennant on the side, back and top of motor vehicles. We don't use the flag for trademark or commercial purposes or display it below paintings, pictures, states or platforms. We don't have to be told that flags are out of place in "discotheques, cockpits, night and day clubs, casinos, gambling joints and places of vice or where frivolity prevails." We do not draw or print other things or figures on the flag.

The list of "don'ts" is rather long, but it seems to have overlooked a practice I see quite often. At the start of programs when the National Anthem is sung, people rise from their seats, face the flag, put their palms over their hearts and begin. In some places, the flag that would naturally hang limply from the flagpole is made to fly by putting an electric fan below it. I must admit that a flag waving in the breeze is a beautiful sight, but to force it to move this way is contrived and disrespectful. Worse, in the absence of an electric fan, somebody will raise it from one corner and hold it aloft while the people sing.

Maybe I'm too sensitive, but that is how I feel after reading the illustrated Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines.

Comments are welcome at aocampo@ateneo.edu