A United Kingdom-based online travel agency said that the Philippines is among the “most misidentified flags” by the British.
Travelbag showed 2,000 Britons 34 flags of the most popular holiday destinations and asked them to name the country it represents.
“Flags are an important symbol of national identity and can be a source of pride for many people. But how well do Brits know their flags?” the platform said.
“We wanted to put Britain’s knowledge to the test and find out if Brits could correctly name some of the world’s most popular holiday destinations based on their national flag,” it added.
The research was done in August 2023, according to The Nation, Thailand’s English-language daily. It also published an article about the survey.
Meanwhile, Travelbag said that the flags that the British cannot identify the most are:
- Indonesia — 88%
- Canary Islands — 85%
- Thailand — 84%
- Puerto Rico — 84%
- The Bahamas — 83%
- The Philippines — 82%
The archipelagic country is widely known for its beaches and colorful diving spots.
Last month, the Philippines won eight awards in the Asia category of the 2023 World Travel Awards, including Asia’s Leading Dive Destination of the Year.
The country was also voted as the “world’s best country tourism destination” in the 2022 Uzakrota Global Travel Awards.
The flag
The Philippines’ flag is a horizontal bicolor flag with equal bands of blue and red, while a white equilateral triangle acts as its hoist.
Blue symbolizes peace, justice and truth, while red symbolizes bravery, courage and patriotism.
The white triangle, meanwhile, represents liberty and equality.
The center of the triangle shows an eight-ray sun, with each ray representing the first provinces that fought against the Spaniards—namely Manila, Cavite, Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Laguna, Tarlac and Batangas.
The sun itself symbolizes freedom, unity, democracy and sovereignty.
The sun on the flag is surrounded by three yellow stars, representing the three main islands of the archipelago—Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
The Philippine flag is usually hoisted with the blue band on top at times of peace.
It is only flown with the red band on top during wartime or when the country is involved in a war.
Such a feature has caused the national flag to be incorrectly displayed at international events like during the ASEAN Summit or beauty pageants.
Meanwhile, it is not just Britons who tend to misidentify flags.
In 2021, socialite Jinkee Pacquiao mistook the flag of Sint Maarten, a small country in the Caribbean Islands, with that of the Philippine flag.
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