WHY BLUE AND WHITE ARE THE NATIONAL COLORS EVEN THOUGH IT'S ALSO THE FEDERAL CANTON'S OFFICIAL COLORS?

Blue and white is just a color combination they say, but for Panayenses it's a representative color for their national identity and of their faith. Before that, it was used as Iloílo's own maritime mercantile banner, also the city's flag. It was first used by Panayense merchants to trade with other cities and nations. And is also used by religious Catholics as a nod to our Mother Mary. She was depicted in blue and white cloth. Blue is for Mary's purity and virtue, while White is for the skies as Mother Mary would look down to the children past and present. It can be also used as sporting color thanks to a suggestion of a priest in Jaro named Fr. José María de la Torre as a good luck to the athletes and a blessing and guidance of Mother Mary in the first Far Eastern Games in Manila. As for the Federal Canton, they will adopt as their own colors to for the same reason, but first in their 1899 constitution. Still, the blue and white symbolizes the faith and love of the Panayenses for Mary, Mother of Jesus, and is still used as the color both of the country and of the Federal Canton.