Mexico

Estados Unidos Mexicanos

Last modified: 2003-08-09 by juan manuel gabino villascán
Keywords: mexico | bandera nacional | national flag | flag | trigarante | arms |
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	4:7
by Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, August 31, 2001
	4:7
by Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, August 31, 2001

Flag and coat of arms adopted:	September 16, 1968; by Decree published in the DOF on August 17, 1968.
Flag and coat of arms confirmed:	February 24, 1984; by Decree published in DOF on February 8, 1984.
Flag with "Golden Arms" adopted:	No official decree has been issued. In use since about 1988.
Use:	On land, civil, state and war flag; At sea, civil, state and naval ensign.
Color specifications:	According to the Secretaría de Gobernación (Secretariat of the Interior), body responsible on National Symbols matters, the recommended colors for the Mexican flag are: Green: Pantone 3425 C Red: Pantone 186 C

In this page:

• Presentation of Mexico
• Description of the Bandera Nacional (Mexico National Flag)
• Meaning of the Bandera Nacional
• Origin of the National colors

• National Coat of Arms
• Reverse side of the National Flag
• Evolution of the Mexico National flag and Coat of arms (since 1821)
• Day of the Bandera Nacional
• Clickable map of Mexico
• Mexico - General index

Presentation of Mexico

Official name:	Estados Unidos Mexicanos United Mexican States (English) États-Unis du Mexique (French)
Short-form names:	México Mexico (English) Mexique (French)
Type of government:	Federal Democratic Representative Republic
Chief of State and Head of Government:	President (Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos)
Capital:	Ciudad de México (Mexico City), Distrito Federal
Local divisions:	31 Estados (states), and one district: Distrito Federal
Nationality:	Mexicana Mexican (English) Mexicain (French)
Official Language:	Español, also known as Castellano (Spanish -English-, Espagnol -French-)
Other languages:	Nahuatl, Mayan, Zapotec, Mixtec, Otomi, Tzeltal, Tzotzil, Totonac, English, French, German.
Religion:	Roman Catholic (mostly).
Area:	1'964,375 km2
Location:	Northern America, it neighbors USA (N), Guatemala and Belize (SE), Ocean Pacific (W), Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea (E)
Status:	Internationaly recognized independent state.
Member of:	UNO, UN specialized bodies and agencies, World Trade Organization (WTO), World Bank, International Monetary Found (IMF), Organization of American States (OEA/OAE), APEC, Organization for Economical Cooperation and Development (OCDE/OEDC), Iternational Olympic Committee (COI/OIC), FIFA, FIBA, IAAF, FIVA, among others.

According the Law on National Flag, Coat of Arms, and Anthem (Diario Oficial de la Federación February 8, 1984), in the article 3º are stated the features and proportions of the Mexican flag:

Art. 3º:
"The National flag is a rectangle divided into three vertical stripes of identical measures, with the colors placed in the following order from hoist to fly: green, white, and red. Centered in the white stripe, the National Coat of Arms with a diameter of three fourths the wide of the white stripe. The proportion of the flag is four to seven. It could carry a rope or tie of the same colors bellow the truck.

A model of the National Flag, authenticated by the Three Union Power representatives, will remain stored in the 'Archivo General de la Nación' (General Archive of the Nation), and another in the 'Museo Nacional de Historia' (National Museum on History)."

by Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, August 31, 2001

The image shown above is based on an official illustration published in the Rule on Uniforms of the Mexican Army and Air Force (DOF December 18, 1975).
Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, June 22, 2001.

Originally the colors were for religion, independence and union; to see more click here: Imperial Army of the Three Guarantees.

Currently, due the secularism adopted since the 1957-promulgated Liberal Constitution during the government of Ignacio Comonfort reinforced by the Leyes de Reforma published in 1859-1860 by Liberal President Benito Juárez García, colors of the National Flag had acquired a new meaning:

Green for hope;
White for unity, purity, and honesty; and
Red for parenthood and the blood of national heroes.
(Marc Junele Hoyos, 29 Apr 1998)

Other meaning could be:

Green for the territory (resources, mountains, rivers, etc);
White for the people (ethnicity, believes, mixture, honesty, unity, purty); and
Red for the struggles for remaining the national independence and freedom.

The Coat of Arms recalls an old Aztec legend:

The Aztec people were guided by Huitzilopochtli to seek a place where an eagle landed on a prickly-pear cactus, eating a snake.

After hundreds of years of wandering they found the sign on a small swampy island in Lake Texcoco. Their new home they named Mexico-Tenochtitlan ("In the Moon's navel-Place of the Prickly Pear Cactus"). In A.D. 1325 they built a city on the site of the island in the lake; this is now the center (downtown) of Mexico City.

Rita Ramirez, January 16, 1998;
Edward Mooney, April 28, 1998; and
Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, September 30, 2001

"The Flag's colors were surely inspired in those of the arms of the Most Noble and Loyal City de la Purísma-Concepción de Zelaya granted by Phillip IV in 1669, and placed in the Regimiento de Celaya's flag of which Iturbide was colonel... Such arms are blue, white and red, in the middle of the white stripe there is a mezquite three under which there are the Regidores who had the first agreement... so, it is vere probable that the new flag had been created in Celaya (Guanajuato), instead of Iguala (then México, now Guerrero), because of security: Ituribide would not risk his life because of the new and original idea to join two rival armies, then he chose a save and far place from the Insurgentes and close to conservatives, Celaya, Guanajuato..."

About red, several sources establish that it was not originally though to include red in flags but something kind of purple because this represented Castile (Spain), unfortunately, because of either the lack of purple cloth or its high price, the Trigarante Army was forced to use red instead.

Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, October 4, 2001.