![Bohol chocolate hillls](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Bohol_chocolate_hillls.jpg)
The Flag of Bohol is the provincial flag of
Bohol
Bohol (), officially the Province of Bohol ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Bohol; tl, Lalawigan ng Bohol), is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, consisting of the island itself and 75 minor surrounding islands. It ...
,
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. It is a vertical
triband bearing the three main colors of the
Philippine flag
The national flag of the Philippines ( tgl, Pambansang watawat ng Pilipinas; ilo, Nailian a bandera ti Filipinas; ceb, Nasudnong bandila ng Pilipinas; es, Bandera Nacional de Filipinas) is a horizontal bicolor flag with equal bands of royal ...
.
According to the official interpretation of the flag's symbolism, the color blue represents nobility; white, purity; and red, courage.
The design is similar to the flags of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
and the
Novgorod Oblast
Novgorod Oblast (russian: Новгоро́дская о́бласть, ''Novgorodskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Veliky Novgorod. Some of the oldest Russian cities, includin ...
in
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
.
Bohol is one of the few
Philippine provinces
In the Philippines, provinces ( fil, lalawigan) are one of its primary political and administrative divisions. There are 82 provinces at present, which are further subdivided into component cities and municipalities. The local government units ...
to have a distinctly-designed
flag, deviating from the standard flag design of the provincial seal on a colored field. The flag has a proportion of 1:2, the same as the flag of the Philippines.
Symbolism
Charged on the white
field
Field may refer to:
Expanses of open ground
* Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes
* Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport
* Battlefield
* Lawn, an area of mowed grass
* Meadow, a grass ...
is the main portion of the seal of Bohol, depicting the island's history and famous landmarks: on the foreground is a tableau of the
Sandugo
The Sandugo was a blood compact, performed in the island of Bohol in the Philippines, between the Spanish explorer Miguel López de Legazpi and Datu Sikatuna the chieftain of Bohol on March 16, 1565, to seal their friendship as part of the triba ...
between
Miguel López de Legazpi and
Datu Sikatuna
Datu Sikatuna (or ''Catunao'') was a Datu or chieftain of the Bool Kingdom (or Kedatuan of Dapitan) in the island of Bohol in the Philippines. He made a blood compact (''sanduguan'') and alliance with the Spain, Spanish explorer Miguel López de Le ...
which symbolizes the "Boholano's love of peace," while behind this are the
Chocolate Hills
The Chocolate Hills ( ceb, Mga Bungtod sa Tsokolate, tgl, Mga Tsokolateng Burol) are a geological formation in the Bohol province of the Philippines. and a field of green, symbolizing the province's natural beauty and agricultural resources.
Flanking this scene are the two
''barong''s (swords) representing the
Tamblot uprising and the
Dagohoy rebellion
The Dagohoy rebellion, also known as the Dagohoy revolution and the Dagohoy revolt, is considered as the longest rebellion in Philippine history. Led by Francisco Dagohoy, or Francisco Sendrijas, the rebellion took place on the island of Bohol fro ...
,
whose tips meet at the bottom of the emblem.
A blue five-pointed star,
fimbriated
In heraldry and vexillology, fimbriation is the placement of small stripes of contrasting colour around common charges or ordinaries, usually in order for them to stand out from the background, but often simply due to the designer's subjective ...
yellow, appears above the central emblem; on all physical versions of the flag the star always appears on the observer's right, whether on the obverse or reverse side. The lone star represents
Carlos P. Garcia
Carlos Polestico Garcia (November 4, 1896 – June 14, 1971) was a Filipino teacher, poet, orator, lawyer, public official, political economist, guerrilla and Commonwealth military leader who was the eighth president of the Philippines. A l ...
, the only
president of the Philippines
The president of the Philippines ( fil, Pangulo ng Pilipinas, sometimes referred to as ''Presidente ng Pilipinas'') is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of t ...
to come from Bohol: his tenure as Philippine president (1957–1961) was originally represented by a yellow star on the original provincial flag; a smaller blue star "superimposed" on the yellow star was added in 1971 after Garcia was elected president of the 1971 Constitutional Convention,
even though he died the day after he took his oath.
Another star is meant to be added for every Boholano that becomes president of the Philippines.
History
The flag was adopted as the provincial flag through Provincial Board Resolution No. 238 on 28 October 1969.
The current version of the flag, with a blue star "superimposed" on the yellow star, became official with the adoption of Provincial Board Resolution No. 121 in 1971.
See also
*
Bohol
Bohol (), officially the Province of Bohol ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Bohol; tl, Lalawigan ng Bohol), is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, consisting of the island itself and 75 minor surrounding islands. It ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Description of the flag and seal of Bohol by the Bohol provincial government
Bohol
Bohol, Flag of
Bohol
Bohol (), officially the Province of Bohol ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Bohol; tl, Lalawigan ng Bohol), is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, consisting of the island itself and 75 minor surrounding islands. It ...
Flags introduced in 1969