Flags of Maranaw pageantry

By Abdel Aziz Dimapunong

Director, Maranaw Cultural Heritage

The Sambolayang flags

According to Wikipedia, “a flag is a piece of cloth, often flown from a pole or mast,
generally used symbolically for signaling or identification”. By this definition, the
Maranaw Sambolayang is a flag. It is always made of cloth and it is flown from a pole. It
is among the colorful traditional flags of Maranaw pageantry. The other flags include the
Pasandalan, Pandiya Ranao, Paramata, Pandi, Usunan, and many others.

For centuries, the Sambolayang and other Maranaw traditional cultural flags had been in
use in the two provinces of Ranao in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao,
Philippines. Although flag-like symbols of Maranaw pageantry were in used even before
the coming of the Spaniards in 1521, the origin of Sambolayang flags in the modern
sense is a matter of dispute. According to Grande Dianaton of the Maranaw Cultural
Heritage, some Maranaws believe that the Sambolayangs originated in China. Renayong
Dimapunong has a different view. He claims that the Maranaw flags were inspired by the
Srivijaya Empire during the 8th century much earlier than Chinese influence.
When the Sambolayang is flown, it signals that there is an ongoing Maranaw pageantry.
It identifies the location to be having a magnificent ceremonial display of a highly
colorful event, splendid, a stately ceremony. All Maranaw ceremonies are marked with a
historical or traditional flavor. The master of ceremony usually speaks of the historical
background or a traditional flavor of the occasion. The event could be a royal wedding. In
this case, the genealogy of both the groom and the bride serves as the historical
backgrounder. The occasion could be the crowning of a Sultan, whose genealogy is
presented as the historical background. The occasion could also be just a splendid display
of Kalilang, a festival event that marks a holiday.

Various modern flags are on display at the

Provincial Capitol of Lanao Del Sur

In modern times, the ceremony could be an inauguration, or an investiture of a newly

appointed or elected government official. Nowadays, the Sambolayangs are used in many
ways including rallies and demonstrations. The use of the Sambolayangs now extends to
corporate or political advertising. In its simplest usage, it could be used just for
decorative purposes in an informal way. The Maranaw so love the use of flags. There are
even house flags of various designs or form used to identify a certain family, especially
those who claim to belong to a certain royal family.

The Maranaw cultural flags are potent patriotic symbols with varied wide-ranging
interpretations, often including cultural and political associations due to their original and
ongoing cultural uses. The existence of so many kinds of Maranaw flags coupled with
various designs of royal seals as the seal of Paramata Bantugan could only mean that
there were vexillographers among the Maranaws. The scholarly study of flags is known
as vexillology.