Battle Flag captured during the Philippine Insurrection in the City of Pasig, 1899.
This flag was captured in the City of Pasig, located near Manila the capital of the Philippines, by Colonel Victor Duboce, 1st California Volunteer Infantry. During the Spanish-American War & Philippine Insurrection Pasig was a region of intense Philippine nationalism.

This flag's red and blue horizontal stripes have faded to orange and gray and the white triangle at the hoist which should have a yellow star in each corner and an 8-rayed yellow sun in the center is now missing one star. Moreover, the reverse of the flag never had these symbols at all. This lack of symbols and the size of the flag strongly suggest that it was homemade and probably intended for vertical display.

It was once thought to be a city flag but Philippine cities did not have flags of their own flags in the 1890s; the original de Young documents accompanying this flag indicate that it was "the official flag of the city of Pasig."

Filipinos in 1898 were hoping that the American troops who had defeated Spain would leave their islands an independent country. However, the Philippines did not acquire its independence until 1946. Thus, for many years their national flag was banned by the American authorities. See also ZFC0200 and ZFC0337 in the De Young Museum collection.

Exhibition History:
De Young Museum Flag Room.

War & Dissent
The US in the Philippines 1898 1915
October 22, 2008 to February 22, 2009
At the Presidio of San Francisco, Officers Club Exhibition Hall

University of California - Santa Cruz
Board of Councilors Meeting, Rare Flags Exhibit
Santa Cruz, CA
7 June 2012

ZFC Significant Flag
Item is Framed

Provenance:
• Filipino Forces, First Philippine Republic, Pasig, Luzon, Philippine Islands, 1898/99.
• Captured by Colonel Victor Duboce, 1st California Volunteer Infantry, Pasig, Luzon Philippines Islands, February, 1899.
• Retained by Col. Duboce as a memento of service until passing, August, 1900
• Gifted by Mrs. Victor Duboce to the deYoung Museum, San Francisco, CA, December 1900.
• Sold via Butterfield & Butterfield Auctions , SF, CA, to the Zaricor Flag Collection, 1997.


Sources:


History of the de Young Museum, de Young, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 15 November 2011: http://deyoung.famsf.org/about/history-de-young-museum

War Trophy, Wikipedia, 15 November 2011, from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_trophy

Michael Henry de Young, Wikipedia, 15 November 2011, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._H._de_Young

WATAWAT - FLAGS AND SYMBOLS OF THE PEARL OF THE ORIENT SEAS, 15 November, from: http://www.watawat.net/index.html

The Experiences of the First California Volunteer Infantry, Spanish American War Centennial website, 15 November 2011, from:
http://www.spanamwar.com/1stCAinf.htm

Pasig, Wikipedia, 15 November 2011, from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasig

Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection