Mexican symbols. State symbols of Mexico
An important symbol of Mexican politics and culture for many centuries.
The coat of arms depicts an eagle perched on a cactus devouring a snake. For the Aztecs, the images had deep religious connotations, but for Europeans it was only a symbol of the triumph of good over evil. The coat of arms also depicts oak and laurel leaves.
Story
According to ancient Indian legend, the sun god Huitzilopochtli ordered the Aztecs to settle in the place where they would meet an eagle sitting on a tall cactus and holding a snake in its beak. The Indians managed to discover an area that fully corresponded to the description, and they decided to found their city on the western shore of Lake Texcoco, in a picturesque valley. This legend is reflected on the flag and coat of arms of Mexico. The flag was adopted on September 16, 1968
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An excerpt characterizing the Coat of Arms of Mexico
Two months passed after receiving news in Bald Mountains about the Battle of Austerlitz and the death of Prince Andrei, and despite all the letters through the embassy and all the searches, his body was not found, and he was not among the prisoners. The worst thing for his relatives was that there was still hope that he had been raised by the inhabitants on the battlefield, and perhaps was lying recovering or dying somewhere alone, among strangers, and unable to give news of himself. In the newspapers, from which the old prince first learned about the defeat of Austerlitz, it was written, as always, very briefly and vaguely, that the Russians, after brilliant battles, had to retreat and carried out the retreat in perfect order. The old prince understood from this official news that ours were defeated. A week after the newspaper brought news of the Battle of Austerlitz, a letter arrived from Kutuzov, who informed the prince of the fate that befell his son.“Your son, in my eyes,” wrote Kutuzov, with a banner in his hands, in front of the regiment, fell as a hero worthy of his father and his fatherland. To my general regret and that of the entire army, it is still unknown whether he is alive or not. I flatter myself and you with hope that your son is alive, for otherwise he would have been named among the officers found on the battlefield, about whom the list was given to me through the envoys.”
Having received this news late in the evening, when he was alone. in his office, the old prince, as usual, went for his morning walk the next day; but he was silent with the clerk, the gardener and the architect, and, although he looked angry, he did not say anything to anyone.
The Mexican states have come a long way in forming a separate state. During this time, various significant events took place in the country, which were reflected on state symbols. Over the years, the flag and coat of arms of Mexico have been depicted in completely different ways. Some things have gone into the distant past, but some have remained unchanged. What do the flag and coat of arms of Mexico look like today? Why were such paintings chosen as distinctive symbols of the country? This will be discussed in more detail in this article.
The Mexican flag, although it has its own distinctive features, is composed in the best traditions of vexillology (the science that studies the history and symbolism of flags and banners) and has similarities with the flags of other countries.
Mexico flag photo
In the photo of the flag of Mexico you can see a tricolor canvas with vertical stripes of bright green, white and bright red. The red stripe depicts the rising sun rising from the ocean. Bright sun rays occupy half of the flag. In the center on a white background is the coat of arms of the Mexican states.
Flag description
The Mexican flag has stripes of three colors, each of which carries a meaning. Interestingly, since 1821, the colors on the flag have remained unchanged, but their interpretation has changed.
Green color was identified with independence, freedom and hope for a wonderful future. White color was associated with God and his blessing, as well as with purity of motives and thoughts. Red symbolized the unification of Mexico, then God's approval.
The modern explanation of the color symbols sounds like this: green - hope, as well as fertile Mexican lands, white - the purity and nobility of the people, red - the blood shed for the Mexican states to gain their freedom.
History of appearance
The Mexican flag has a long history and in the beginning it was not at all the same as it is known today. If the Aztecs, Zapotecs and Mayans, who inhabited the territory of modern Mexico before Columbus, had national banners, they have not survived to this day. The first flag was awarded to Mexico by the King of Spain in 1535 to show that the American colonies belonged to the Spanish state. It depicted a red “Cross of Burgundy” against a white background. Until 1785, the flag remained unchanged.
In 1785, the situation in the New World was heating up, and disagreements among world states over the ownership of territories overseas intensified. Spain did not even think of ceding land to England and, in order to finally assert its rights to Mexico, changed the Mexican flag to one identical to the Spanish one with the image of the rising sun.
In 1821, the Mexican states declared their independence. Since that time, several variants of banners have claimed the status of the main state symbol of Mexico. For example, with three-color stripes located diagonally on a rectangular canvas, on which either yellow stars or three multi-colored stars were placed and in the center a crown with an inscription emphasizing independence. Also at this time, a version of the flag appeared with vertical stripes of three colors and a crowned eagle sitting on a cactus. In 1823, a flag very similar to the modern one was adopted. Over the years, only small details of the Mexican coat of arms in the center of the flag have changed.
Since 1968, the flag and coat of arms of Mexico have remained unchanged.
The Mexican coat of arms is distinguished by its intricacy and the ancient origins of the symbols depicted.
Photo of the coat of arms of Mexico
If you take a closer look at the photo of the coat of arms of Mexico, the main state symbols of the country, you can see the main symbols in the form of an eagle, a cactus, a poisonous snake and branches of an oak and laurel. The green branches are joined together by a ribbon which bears the Mexican flag, which bears a coat of arms with the flag, etc. It turns out a kind of fractal view into infinity.
Description
The central figure of the coat of arms is a bird of prey with a snake in its beak. Many believe that this is an eagle or a falcon. But it’s still a caracara carancha. Such birds are quite common in Mexico. Caracaras are very large birds, their body length can be more than 60 cm, and their weight can be up to 2 kg. They feed on a variety of reptiles, such as lizards and snakes. Therefore, a bird with a poisonous snake in its beak is not fiction.
The snake wriggling in the claws and beak of the caracara is a rattlesnake. It can be easily recognized by its yellow tail rattle. Rattlesnakes can be up to 2.5 meters in length and weigh up to 7 kg. Their habitat includes the desert, arid areas of Mexico.
Of particular note is the flowering plant of the cactus family, on which the caracara proudly sits. This is napalea or, popularly, prickly pear. Such cacti grow throughout Mexico and are a unique symbol of the country. Cacti are not only widely consumed as food. Carmine, a natural bright red dye that is used in various fields of Mexican activity, is also made from aphids that live on prickly pears.
In the image of the coat of arms, a cactus grows on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco, on the shores of which Tenochtitlan, the ancient capital city of the Aztec state, was built.
The coat of arms is framed by green branches of oak and laurel, fastened to each other with a tricolor ribbon.
The symbolic meaning of the coat of arms of the Mexican states is the struggle of good forces with evil with the final triumph of justice.
History of appearance
Mexico's coat of arms, like its flag, evolved gradually before reaching its final version. At first, the bird was depicted with a crown on its head, and its position was different: sideways and frontal.
Ultimately, the crown disappeared, but a snake appeared in its claws and beak, and the bird was hoisted onto a cactus growing on a rock. These symbols were taken from a long-standing Aztec legend about how Tenochtitlan, the main city of the Indians, was founded. The shaman predicted to his tribe that in the place where the Indians would find a caracara eating a snake, they would need to build a city. This will be a sign from above that the capital will receive the blessing of the gods and prosperity. According to legend, the Aztecs actually met such a bird near Lake Texcoco, where they founded the city that later became Mexico City, the capital of the United States of Mexico.
It is very difficult for a European to understand a person living in another hemisphere, brought up in different economic, political, religious and cultural conditions. If you look at the coat of arms of Mexico, the representative of the Old World will see animals and plants that, in his opinion, are the most common in the country of the Aztecs. The Mexicans themselves see much more in each of the sacred animals, the same applies to the painted leaves of oak and laurel.
Through time and distance
The modern appearance of the coat of arms is determined by ancient Indian myths and legends about Huitzlopochtli. This is the Indian sun god; not every person can pronounce his name the first time, but very few people can remember it. It was he who determined the place where the Aztecs should settle. According to his instructions, they had to find a place where the eagle, having caught the snake, would sit on a cactus.
The indigenous people had to go in search of a piece of paradise and find it in a beautiful, picturesque valley near Lake Texcoco. The legend was passed down from generation to generation, therefore, as soon as the idea of creating our own state symbol arose, the decision immediately came about how it should look.
Dangerous animals and plants
Somehow it so happened that the Mexican coat of arms depicts representatives of flora and fauna that it is better for a person not to meet. The eagle is perhaps the most popular of the birds appearing on the main symbols of various countries in Europe, Asia and America. Some naturalists claim that the Mexicans chose the golden eagle, which has a second name - the golden eagle. It also has a counterpart in Central Asia - the golden eagle is placed on the coat of arms of Kazakhstan, which also emphasizes deep national traditions. But, if in Asian countries the bird was used by hunters, then on the American continent it was revered as a sacred messenger of the gods. The bones, feathers, and claws of the golden eagle (eagle) had a sacred meaning equal to the Holy Scriptures among Europeans.
Mexican cacti are called sentries of life; in areas scorched by the sun, they are almost the only plants. Despite their very formidable appearance, local residents have long considered them as assistants in the fight for survival. And the ancient Aztecs worshiped them as mythical plants that helped fight enemies, standing as a dense wall in their path.
Today, such formidable representatives of the animal and plant kingdoms symbolize the freedom and independence of Mexico. Laurel branches, like the ancient Europeans, are considered symbols of winners, holm oak - wisdom and the republic. The tricolor ribbon is similar to the flag of the country, where white is the purity of thoughts and deeds, red is a symbol of the unification of the Mexican people, green is independence and hope.
It is not known what is more in the life of this bird - luck or, conversely, misfortune. Indeed, throughout Latin America it is considered a sacred bird, with which many legends and beliefs are associated. This fact simultaneously saved and almost destroyed the bright bird.
Both the Mayans and Aztecs considered the quetzal the patron of the air, a symbol of goodness, light, spring and plants, and depicted him next to the gods. To harm this bird was a terrible sin. When they saw the quetzal, they tried to please it - bring food, decorate the tree on which the nest was located. But pulling a few bright feathers from the tail was not considered harmful, and only the “highest ranks” of the tribe could decorate themselves with these feathers. But the Indians considered the quetzal a bird of freedom that wasted away in captivity, and they always released it.
There is one beautiful legend associated with the quetzal. The Indian leader Tekut Uman fought with the conquistadors, and his patron, the quetzal, hovered above him. During the decisive battle, Tekut Uman was killed. And the quetzal fell dead on his bloody body. Since then, the Indians believe that the quetzal has a red breast.
But when the conquistadors realized what this bird meant to the Indians, they began to hunt it. In addition, over the next few centuries, the territories in which the quetzal lived - tropical and mountain forests - continued to be developed. As a result, the bird almost disappeared, and today it is included in the Red Book of Central America. Finding a quetzal is not easy, despite its size (including its tail, it can reach 80 cm). However, this does not stop curious tourists who travel tens of kilometers along mountain paths to see the sacred bird. The quetzal lives in the territory from southern Mexico to Panama, usually high in the mountains, on the tops of trees. And his quiet chirping, as the Mayans say, still brings to us the speeches of the gods.
The first magazine about Mexico in Russian “Arminas News”, autumn 2013
Photo: Riek, also from the Internet. For questions regarding authorship, please contact the company office
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The flag of Mexico is a rectangular panel with an aspect ratio of 4:7, consisting of three equal vertical stripes - green, white and red. In the center of the white stripe is the image of the coat of arms of Mexico. The green color of the flag represents hope as well as the abundance of good soil in Mexico. White symbolizes purity, red - the blood shed for the independence of the country. According to Aztec legend, the god Huitzilopochtli predicted to the Aztecs, who were looking for land to live, that they should find an eagle sitting on a rocky spot on top of a nopal cactus, devouring a snake. And when they found this eagle, they settled there, and erected the first temple there in honor of their patron god Huitzilopochtli. And it is this eagle that is depicted in the middle of the flag. The flag was adopted on September 16, 1968.
One of the national symbols of Mexico, in addition to the coat of arms, is the flag. It appeared after the victory in the Revolutionary War. Until this time, standards were used that represented not only different cultures, but also individual troops, regions, etc.
These colored emblems were crafted with great care and care, and were decorated with gold and the feathers of beautiful birds, such as the quetzal (the sacred bird of the Aztecs).
After the conquest, the Spaniards brought their banners and standards to the New World, most of which depicted religious images.
Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, having begun the struggle for independence on September 16, 1810, chose a canvas depicting the Holy Virgin of Guadalupe as the banner of the rebels. A little later, in 1815, the Supreme Congress, held in Michiokan, issued a decree according to which three banners were adopted: military, parliamentary and commercial.
The rebel war banner had white and blue squares, arranged like a chessboard, and was bordered with red. In the center of the banner was an eagle sitting on a prickly pear. This was the sign most often used by Don José Maria Morelos and Pavon in the battles for the country's independence.
Other rebel leaders used their own banners. Thus, between 1812 and 1817, the troops of Nicolas Bravo and Guadalupe Victoria used a banner of three colors: green, white and red. Later, on February 24, 1821, the first national flag was created with the following characteristics: three diagonal stripes, one of which is red with a white star; the other is green with a red star; the third is white with a green star.
On the central stripe there was a gilded imperial crown and the words: "Religion, Independence and Unity." White symbolized religion, green symbolized independence and red symbolized the unity of all Mexicans. This banner was called the "banner of three guarantees."
Until November 2, 1821, the colors of the flag were used in different orders, until the Provisional Government fixed their final arrangement: three vertical stripes of green, white and red, on the central stripe - an eagle perched on a prickly pear, whose head is decorated with a crown.
After the establishment of a republican regime in Mexico, on April 14, 1823, the Constitutional Congress decreed that the official flag should have three vertical stripes: green, white and red, an image of an eagle without a crown, as well as laurel and oak branches at the bottom.
These elements have been preserved since then, although the eagle was depicted in different positions: in profile, in front. One such change occurred on April 10, 1865, when Emperor Maximilian moved the eagle to a front view and the symbol of the imperial crown was reintroduced into use.
Later, in 1880, President Porfirio Diaz decided that the eagle should have open wings in the French style and the crown disappeared again.
When Don Venustiano Carranza took over the reins of government of the country after the defeat of the usurper Victoriano Huerta, he decided to use the Indian elements that made up the national coat of arms and, on this occasion, issued a decree on September 20, 1916, according to which the eagle was to be depicted in profile (view left), located on a prickly pear, which grows from a stone surrounded by water, and decorated with oak and laurel branches below.
Currently, the national flag of Mexico is rectangular in shape and divided vertically into three equal parts of green, white and red with the national coat of arms in the middle.
Most of the symbols of the Mexican coat of arms are associated with an ancient legend. In search of the most suitable land for habitation, the Aztec tribes, led by four high priests, wandered through the territory that is part of modern Mexico. And then, one day, they went out to the shores of a large lake and saw in front of them an island where an eagle sat on a prickly pear (a plant of the cactus family) and pecked at a caught snake. This was a sign from Huitzilopochtli, one of the supreme gods of the Aztecs, which meant that from that moment on, wanderings should stop and one should finally settle in this place. So in 1325 the city of Tenochtitlan was founded, which later became the center of the Aztec empire.
Eagle: symbolized the sun, to which the Aztecs attached great importance and believed that it gave light and life. It was considered a magical bird whose flight is close to the sun.
The snake: like the eagle, was considered a magical animal by the Indians and has been worshiped since ancient times throughout Mesoamerica. In Aztec mythology it had a double meaning: creation and destruction, it could kill, but it could also cure.
"El nopal" (a type of prickly pear, cactus family) is a sacred plant for the Indians. The Aztecs associated the red flowers of this plant with the human heart, which was intended for the sun (the eagle was considered the symbol of the sun). The human heart contains blood, which according to Aztec beliefs is the only thing that keeps the sun alive and keeps it moving, giving life.
Island - The symbolic image on the coat of arms of Mexico refers to the island on Lake Texcoco, also called "lake of the moon", where the Aztecs saw an eagle devouring a snake.
Oak branch - in European culture represents power, physical and spiritual strength and was placed on the coat of arms under the influence of European culture.
The laurel branch - in ancient culture symbolized victory, achieved triumph. Just like an oak branch is a sign of European culture.
Mexican national anthem
Mexicans at the Roar of War
Prepare the steel, the horse and the road, and
Let the earth tremble all the way to the center,
In the echoing roar of guns.
1. Ciña O Motherland! Your whiskey is olive
Peace divine archangel,
Whose eternal path is destiny in the sky
inscribed with the Finger of God.
But if the enemy dares a stranger
To defile your lands with my invasion,
He will understand, oh dear, he is like heaven
He gives you a soldier in every son.
2. In bloody battles you find them
Feeling your love with all my heart,
Face the shrapnel calmly,
To seek glorious death or immortality.
After all, the memory of the deeds of brave ancestors
Your children's minds are on fire,
Their victories make up your appearance,
Immortal in your adornment.
3. A sword of lightning destroys an oak tree, even if it is made of stone.
And the power perishes in the depths of the stream,
The impotence of disagreement has been defeated,
It will fall to dust under the feet of an angel.
There will be no more blood of brave children,
Henceforth it will be fought in internecine fights between brothers;
Let him alone meet steel in the hands of the mighty
Who will insult the holy name of the Motherland?
4. Immortal formidable warrior Zempoala
What protects us with a terrible sword,
Holding him with an invincible hand,
And your sacred, your tricolor banner.
Fortunately, he is your forever Mexican
In both peace and war he is the leader.
After all, his weapon gained shine
Soaring, circling in the fields of courage and honor.
5. War, war, no peace for those who dare
The honor of the Motherland, the honor of an angel to stain
War, war, fatherland banners
In their waves, soak in our blood.
War, war. In the mountains, in the valleys,
The trunks roar through kilometers, years,
And the echo resonates with the cry
Their formidable voices are the Union! Freedom!
6. Of old, Motherland, whose children are unarmed,
Your yoke is merciless, their necks are bent,
Your fields are soaked in their blood,
And the blood bears the stamp of the enemy's feet.
And your temples, and palaces, and towers
They were demolished everywhere with a terrible roar,
So that only the ruins of power repeat:
That you were heroes in your homeland.
7. When going to battle with enemy troops,
Military trumpets are calling us,
And Iturbide the sacred banner is with us
O Mexicans, brave ones arise.
And saddle your faithful horses
Let the banners defeated by the carpet fall;
Let the laurel of triumph decorate with shadow
The beautiful face of a brave leader.
8. Return proudly to your father’s hearths,
Warriors with songs of victory,
And overshadowed by the palm of glory
Skillfully won in battle.
Let your bloody laurels
They will enter into wreaths, garlands of roses and myrtle,
Those who love us with their daughters and wives,
They know how to reward the feat of the brave.
9. And who, with the blow of fiery shrapnel,
He will die on the altar for his homeland,
Will receive both a reward and a grave
Where sparkling, eternal glory light,
And, equally, teaching sacred love
His bloody sword will bind them together
With an immortal laurel crown.
The sword of light and love is a grave cross.
10. Fatherland, Motherland! Your children swear
Give you my last breath
If the battle horn strikes with a sound,
Calling brave men to fight.
Olive garlands for you!
Glory to them!
Laurel of victory for you!
A grave of honor for them!
