Hugis Watawat: The Philippine Flag Basic Shapes
For this post, the third installment of my study of the Philippine flag or Watawat, the focus is on shapes. Hugis, the Tagalog word for shape, is the criteria for deconstructing the flag. The basic shape is a circle, triangle, and square.
Circle / Bilog
The eight-rayed sun in the middle of the white triangle was one of the easy translations, with the white triangle being the other.
Triangle / Tatsulok
The white triangle is apparent. The fun challenge was the three stars. Reducing the stars to the exact shape of a triangle was the first step, and again, evident. I knew that one corner of each star aligned with the corresponding white triangle corners. With this orientation, the identical triangles formed a larger triangle mirrored the white version. I was delighted with this result and gave myself a pat. Haha.
Square / Parisukat
The rectangle was the first choice; had I kept it, it would have worked. There were a couple of reasons why I ultimately chose the square. First, the square, with its equal sides and proportions, fits better with the triangle and circle. Second, by "splitting" the rectangle into 2 squares, I can represent the flag's red and blue colors.
Other, perhaps more commonly used, Spanish-influenced words; are sirkulo, tryangulo, and kuwadro.
Satisfying:
Reducing the star to the basic shape.
Arranging the stars to resemble the form of the white triangle is extra satisfying because, within the flag, they are very much intertwined.
Study versions:
1 Shapes as solid fills with their associated colors.
Kulay Watawat's study, which preceded this, had colors in mind.
2 Shapes as textures with associated colors. Darker background allows the white triangle shape not to depend on an outline.
3 Small modifications from v2, stars, and the white triangle combined. Needs to be more successful.
4 Removed the colors to make the focus purely on the shapes. I like it. The “sketchy” version which is the first image on the post, is my choice for this study.
5 Use the texture in place of the solid fill.
