Filipino American History Month: Why October Honors 1587

Filipinos reached what is now California before the United States existed.

On October 18, 1587, Filipino sailors serving on the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de la Buena Esperanza landed at Morro Bay, in present-day California. They were part of the Manila galleon trade between the Philippines and New Spain, and are recorded as the first Filipinos in the continental United States.

That date is why October is Filipino American History Month. The Filipino American National Historical Society established the observance in 1992, and the U.S. Congress recognized it in 2009.

Today Filipino Americans are one of the largest Asian American communities in the country, and October is a month of exhibitions, community events and family history.

The date printed on every Philippines design in our catalog, June 12, 1898, is the day independence from Spain was proclaimed.

A landing in 1587, a month of memory in October.

See the Philippines design → — or explore the story behind any other country's flag on our free Flag Story Cards page.