Why is a piece of my country’s history up for bidding?
Social media users decry a recently held American auction of an early Philippine flag taken away during the Philippine-American War, demanding the historical artifact, to be immediately returned in the country.
According to Invaluable.com, an international online auction marketplace, ‘The First Pattern Philippines Battle Flag – Bring Back,’ has an estimated worth of $4,000 to $6,000 (Php 223,642 to Php 335,463) and was available for bidding in the Centurion Auctions on December 16 in Tallahassee, Florida. It also measures 19 inches by 30 inches and is in good condition.
In its description and images, the flag is a multiple-piece construction of light cotton fabric with hand-stitched “Sun of May” and stars. It includes a handwritten period note stitched on the flag that states, “Willie P. Ludlam brought this home from Philippine war. He gave it to Albert Ludlam 1901.”
The said auction was recently discovered by social media users when one user posted on X (formerly Twitter) the ongoing bidding war for the flag, concluding by stating, “Hope a Filipino wins this and bring it back home!”
Numerous users were offended and infuriated by this development, questioning the need to bid on this important piece when it truly belongs to the country and clamoring for its return. Several individuals are also tagging the National Historical Commission of the Philippines and the National Museum to authenticate the flag as well as the address and negotiate its return.
“Crazy how the American Colonialists stole this from the war and genocide they waged on our own soil, but now some *most probably* rich white dude gets to own it by bidding for it in an auction. Absolutely crazy,” one user tweeted.
Hours later, the X user brought an update that the flag was already sold for $10,500 (Php 587,071) with a 20% buyer’s premium.
Another two First Pattern Philippine battle flags that were surrendered to the US Army were already bought in a separate auction in the same site, Centurion Auctions, a marketplace specializing in the acquisition, marketing, and sale of firearms, guns, and military or war memorabilia, in July 2021 during the year’s Wartime Military Memorabilia Auction.
Similar to the recently sold flag, both flags are composed of various pieces of light cotton fabric, adding a hand-drawn and painted “Sun of May” and stars as well as it is design and size significantly different than the flag that was being sold in the past few days. Meanwhile, the second one has a framed provenance letter reading, “Surrendered to Major Frederick Appleton Smith, 1st Infantry, by Captain Marcos Espinas at Laguna, July 1901.”
According to Centurion, the first flag opened at $4,100 (php 228,506) in the live auction in fierce bidding between collectors until the final price of $37,800 (php 2,106,707) — a record-setting sale price for a First Pattern Philippine battle flag. On the other hand, the second flag ended with a hammer price of $23,400 (Php 1,304,153). Overall, the flags amounted to $61,200 (3,410,860 php).
The two battle flags were part of Brigadier General Frederick Appleton Smith’s collection of military, wartime, and personal pieces accumulated during the course of his 40-year military career, from 1873 to his retirement in 1913, which he served in the Western Frontier, Cuba, and the Philippines.
While in the Philippines, Smith was appointed to the Inspector-General Department of the Visayas in August 1901, the Inspector-General Department of South Philippines in December 1901, and then the Inspector-General Department of the Visayas again from September 1902 to February 1903.
With President Emilio Aguinaldo conceiving the original flag design, it was sewn and embroidered by Marcela Marino de Agoncillo, Lorenza Agoncillo, and Delfina Herbosa de Natividad in Hong Kong and first displayed in the Battle of Alapan on May 28, 1898. It was formally unfolded during the Proclamation of Philippine Independence and became the flag of the First Philippine Republic on June 12, 1898, in Kawit, Cavite by Aguinaldo.
It contains a mythical sun with a face influenced by the Sun of May in other former Spanish colonies such as Argentina and Uruguay, the triangle of Freemasonry, and the eight rays symbolizing the eight rebellious provinces of the Philippines first placed under martial law during the Philippine Revolution, namely Batangas, Bulacan, Cavite, Manila, Laguna, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, and Tarlac.
Some flags are said to carry the Spanish texts: Fuerzas Expedicionarias del Norte de Luzon on its obverse and Libertad Justicia e Ygualdad on its reverse, which means “Northern Luzon Expeditionary Forces” and “Liberty, Justice, and Equality” respectively.
The original flag is said to still be missing but a contemporary one made in cotton and once displayed in Kawit is now preserved at a private museum in Baguio City.
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