Flag of Mexico

Flag origins

Mexico’s flag has vertical bands of green, white and red from the flagpole outward, with the national coat of arms on the central white band. The colors are commonly interpreted today as green for hope, white for national unity, and red for the blood of heroes who died for their homeland. Green, white and red first appeared together on a national flag near the end of the independence movement in 1821. The Army of the Three Guarantees used them in diagonal bands, each bearing a star. By 1822, the colors were arranged vertically with an eagle in the center, establishing the basic composition behind the present flag. The coat of arms depicts a golden eagle on a nopal cactus, holding a snake in its beak. Below are water and rocks representing a lake, accompanied by oak and laurel branches.

Flag story

The eagle holding a snake while perched on a cactus recalls the legend of the founding of Tenochtitlan, the predecessor of Mexico City. According to tradition, the Mexica, or Aztec, people received a revelation from the god Huitzilopochtli telling them to build a city where they found an eagle perched on a cactus in a lake. They founded Tenochtitlan where they encountered that scene. The center of the flag therefore contains more than plants and animals: it depicts a founding story explaining why the capital was built there. The flag also contains a remarkable variety of living things. The Mexican government identifies the golden eagle, rattlesnake, nopal cactus, laurel and oak among the natural elements represented in the coat of arms.

Editorial notes and references

Edited by ABELHA WORKS. The English text translates the administrator-edited Japanese description. Legends should be distinguished from documented history. General reference links do not substantiate every statement in the text.

• Mexico — general information on Wikipedia
• Japan MOFA: countries and regions (Japanese)

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