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Post by paopadd on Aug 21, 2008 15:18:27 GMT -5
Hi ! Did you know that the colonial symbols on the Coat of Arms of the Philippines : the American eagle and the lion of Spain were deleted in 1987 ?
( under Section 14 of the administrative code of 1987 ) .
On my opinion I think that is a great thing, what do you think on this topic ?
Mabuhay
Paolo
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mish
History Buff
Kalayaan
Posts: 135
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Post by mish on Aug 21, 2008 21:32:18 GMT -5
The complete text from Book I, Chapter 4 of the Admin Code:
I don't know how other former colonies treat old symbols of their past, but I guess ours chose to dispense with them altogether on the coat of arms.
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Post by RayAdillO on Aug 22, 2008 0:43:54 GMT -5
Eagle?....O.K., I understand why they took it out. (U.S. symbolism) Lion?.......the same. (Spanish) But I think what's left is too plain. It can use a little more jazzing up. Here's an idea: For aesthetics, I put a face on the sun and made it look more like a star to lessen the regionalistic implications of "8" rays being "8" Luzon provinces. Although the sealion was introduced by the Spanish, it referred exclusively to the Philippines Islands and not Spain, the Spanish crown, nor the Spanish people. The sealion is supposedly shaped like the map of the Philippines itself, and besides...it looks good. The carabao head?, few symbols can be more filipino than that.  |
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mish
History Buff
Kalayaan
Posts: 135
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Post by mish on Aug 22, 2008 13:03:09 GMT -5
This reference to a sun with a face brought back a lot of memories. My introduction to an in-depth discussion of the symbolism of the sun and its different manifestations by way of revolutionary flags - and what they meant to our people - came by way of Prof. Zeus Salazar of the UP's History Dept. (He was our thesis adviser - last I heard he was terrorizing LaSallites at their Taft campus) I Googled him, and here's what I got on the first try: ZEUS A. SALAZAR: A Legacy of the Propaganda: The Tripartite View of Philippine History: bagongkasaysayan.multiply.com/journal/item/72/I miss the man. |
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Post by VeeVee on Aug 22, 2008 16:06:41 GMT -5
Zeus Salazar? Sounds familiar. Did you ever have Dr. Rico Jose as a teacher?
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Post by paopadd on Aug 23, 2008 17:02:10 GMT -5
I'm agree with RayadillO about the carabao head; it is a typical symbol of the Country so we can add it on the C.o. A. ( in the last times also Pedra A. paterno had a personal coat of arms with a bolo and horns of carabao because he claimed to be a descendent of a pre-hispanic nobilty and proclamed himself the Prince of Luzon).The sun must be a sun not a star because the flag and the coat of arms of the Philippines are the result of a filipino struggle for freedom and the sun, the mythological sun derived from it and i think it will be good to restore it on C.o.A. and flag.
The rays are 8 , the 8 provinces that started the revolution against Spain . Moros fought spanish but never had a great weight in the filipino revolution so we can't change or modify the sun adding 1 or more rays at the first 8.
The sealion, symbols of Manila grant by Spain is a nice symbols but it is also a colonial symbol .
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mish
History Buff
Kalayaan
Posts: 135
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Post by mish on Aug 24, 2008 4:24:51 GMT -5
Zeus Salazar? Sounds familiar. Did you ever have Dr. Rico Jose as a teacher? Nope, didn't have the pleasure. I was aware of his reputation in the Dept. as the go-to guy for Military History, and I was tempted a few times to enlist in the courses he handled, but never really did it. My loss. At that time military history was not on top of my interests list. I was then in my bright-eyed, looking for ways to change the world stage, and all things military I just theoretically reduced to "ah... the armed forces, plus the police plus the courts and prisons... these are what the State depends on to survive... and what the ruling classes use to maintain their rule." BTT: Yeah, the present coat of arms is pretty bare. A carabao and sealion as additions would be nice. |
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Sandata
New Member
Every generalization is false, including this one.
Posts: 19
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Post by Sandata on Oct 18, 2009 13:05:55 GMT -5
Personally, I wouldn't mind adding the Sealion and the Carabao Head to the bare blue and red halves of the shield design of the Philippine's Official Seal. Adding the two gold heraldic symbols provides aesthetic elaboration and balance without being too colonialist as the previous American Eagle and Spanish Lion symbols were.
I prefer to accept history as it happened and would prefer not to whitewash or hide important symbols that represent the factors which molded the Filipino people into what we are now. We can't change the fact that the Philippines was a fragmented mish-mash of islands before the three conquering foreign powers super-imposed their sovereign will on isolated tribal folks who couldn't talk to each other that well. Their occupancy and cultural heritage and legacy has resulted in a democratic republic whose psycho-social roots are now solidifying steadily with the spread of advanced communications.
The sealion symbol for the archipelago with its Spanish origins was adopted by the Americans when they established their Army's Philippine Department soon after the Philippine-American War ("Insurrection") was barely over. It still remains on the seal of the City of Manila and the seal of the President of the Philippines, so arguing that it shouldn't be there because it was of Spanish origin is a bit weak. The Carabao, our native large animal and steadfast beast of burden, represents the large majority of Filipino soldiers and guerrillas who, together with their American Army officers, fought the Japanese to a standstill and kept harassing them till the last foreign occupant was ejected or buried in Philippine soil. Both symbols represent sacrifice, loyalty, patriotism, extreme courage under adversity, and eventual triumph through teamwork. Both symbols also represent the marine and terrestrial components of the country in just one glance while the white portion with its sun and stars represents the heavens.
Overall, I think adding the two military shoulder patches with their historical significance would awaken the interest of succeeding generations of Filipinos to their rich history and cultural heritage because they will be curious to know why these two particular symbols are there.
Adding them enhances the Philippine Seal without much (if any) of the severely negative implications of the American Eagle and the Spanish Lion, both of which are national symbols of former colonial powers. Both the Sealion and the Carabao Head applied exclusively to the military forces formed and based in the Philippines to defend it from internal and external attacks. Furthermore, the US Army formally removed them both from active-duty status after the Philippines became independent and there is no further possibility of them being reinstated as such. Thus, the only ones who will benefit from their future use are the Filipinos themselves and the descendants and friends of the men who had served in the USAFFE and who want to continue to honor such service. Their use on a future redesign of the Philippine Seal would honor the sacrifice and service performed by both Filipino and American soldiers that have already been forgotten by the current generation of both nations.
We could make it a project of this group to request the national legislators to consider putting these two historically relevant and significant symbols on the Official Seal of the Republic of the Philippines.
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