Philippine pride is alive and well on the internet (Happy Independence Day!)
It’s the 111th Philippine Independence Day today, meaning there’s no better day to take pride in our heritage as a nation. If you’ve been keeping tabs on online Pinoy culture, however, you’ll notice how we don’t need to wait for June 12th come around to celebrate all the things that define who are as a people, big and small.
Let’s start with our lovely flag, the elements of which has inspired clothing lines, magazine covers, and every Pinoy-centric campaign you can think of.
Of course it does help with big companies like Google and Yahoo! join in the festivities too.
Speaking of festivities—food! Lechon, balut, isaw, taho, mangoes, bananas, rice, or the biscuits called Filipinos, our love for our delicacies is found around the world, websites included.
June 12th is also a time to remember how our heroes, from Rizal to Ninoy, fought and died for our country. Apart from reverence, there seems to be a different kind of fascination with our ancient elders. There’s a LOLcat version of Mi Ultimo Adios and a series of Noli/Fili meets the Katipuneros and Propagandistas here and here, Facebook-style.
That’s not the only kind of nostalgia we Filipinos enjoy on the Web. We can watch all the retro TV commercials and telenovelas on demand. And if that isn’t your thing, we’ve got present-day stars to watch too: Charice Pempengco, Manny Pacquiao, Arnel Pineda, Christine Gambito, the Philippine All-Stars, the Cebu inmates, Apl.de.ap, Nicole Scherzinger, Batista, and more.
Finally, perhaps the most important part of the Philippine revolution online are the different causes and movements to better our nation. From reactions to controversies like the De la Paz-Pangandaman golf incident and the Great Book Blockade of 2009, to politically-motivated initiatives like No to Con-Ass, to grassroots sites like Ako Mismo and One Tama.
Happy Independence Day, everyone!
Wave the Philippine flag on your blog!
May 28 is National Flag Day, which is when the Philippine flag was raised for the first time in 1898 (in the Battle of Alapan, Imus, Cavite). Beginning this day until June 12, which is our Independence Day, everyone is encouraged to display the Philippine flag in front of our homes, schools, offices, and other places. This period is called National Flag Days.
Here’s an idea: why not wave the National Flag on your blog?
Of course the easiest way is to write a post about the Philippine flag and related topics like Independence Day. Just talking about it is enough to foster our sense of nationhood. You could take a photo of the flag in front of your house or on the street on the way to work. It doesn’t even have to be a million-peso shot, your cameraphone will do.
But if you want a more permanent sign of Pinoy pride, WordPress bloggers will know that sidebar widgets make this easy. Just pick the text widget and insert the HTML code for the image you want to display.
If you’re looking for a suitable image of the flag, try these links:
Flag of the Philippines
Contains a history of the Philippine flag and various public domain images.
Kalayaan 2008
The 2008 Independence Day logo.
famfamfam.com: Flag Icons
Set of 247 icons in GIF and PNG.
Flaggr: Free Pixel Flag Icons
Hotlinking allowed.
Pixel Flag Icons
Set of 27×17 pixel icons for 177 nations.
Customize your iPhone, show your national pride
iPhone icons including two with the Philippine flag as background. Yes, it’s for the iPhone, but you could use it on your blog as well!
Animated Flags of Philippines
A number of animated images of the Philippine flag.
Republic of the Philippines Flags
3D, animated, waving Philippine flag images in various sizes and on different background colors. Link back to use for free.
Philippine flag desktop wallpaper
Large image of Philippine flag intended as desktop wallpaper.
Philippines Glittering Flag
Philippine flag with animated sparkles for all the MySpace/Friendster fanatics.
Filipino Comments
More comment graphics for social networking fiends.
Proudly Pinoy
Not exactly the Philippine flag, but it’s a badge made especially to show how our pride for our country.
And finally, have a look at some photographs of the Philippine flag and this group called BANDILA, both from Flickr. (Note: if you want to use these images, be sure you have the proper permissions first.)
Happy National Flag Day and advanced happy Independence Day everyone!
