Mexican Flag PNG
The national flag of Mexico is a vertical tricolor combining green, white, and red stripes with the coat of arms in the center. The tricolor was introduced as the symbol of independence from Spain in the 19th century, but the roots of the imagery can be traced at least five centuries earlier, to the pre-Hispanic period.
The coat of arms depicts the foundation myth of the ancient Aztec empire. According to the legend, in 1325, Indians saw an eagle with a serpent in its beak. The eagle was standing on a cactus, which grew out of rocks in the middle of the water. This adhered to the prophecies the Indians had of the predestined place for their capital. So, they founded the city of Tenochtitlan here.
The abovementioned scene has been extensively used in the heraldry of the people inhabiting this land ever since and, in the form of a symbol, outlived Tenochtitlan itself (not Mexico City, though).
| Colors | HEX Code | Pantone | RGB | CMYK |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green | #006847 | 3425 C | 0, 104, 71 | 100, 34, 93, 30 |
| White | #FFFFFF | Safe | 255, 255, 255 | 0, 0, 0, 0 |
| Red | #CE1125 | 186 C | 206, 17, 37 | 0, 92, 82, 19 |
History of the Flag
Some of the earliest flags that flew over the territory of modern-day Mexico belonged to the Aztecs, the Mesoamerican civilization whose best period was around 1300-1521. Eagles and panthers were a recurrent theme on their standards. When the Spanish invaders conquered the Aztec Empire, they introduced their own flag. It was inspired by that of Castile, a historical region in Spain. The original flag of Castile showcased a gold castle on a red background.
On August 13, 1530, the first flag parade took place, to mark the ninth anniversary of the fall of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan.
However, it was only three hundred years later that a whole succession of new flags was introduced, caused by dramatic events in the country’s history.
1810
Like in many other countries, the flag of Mexico was born during the nation’s struggle for independence. Because the forces that fought for this cause weren’t perfectly unified and organized, they used a number of flags.
One flag that was adopted during the War of Independence from Spain was the so-called Standard of the Virgin of Guadalupe. It featured the crowned Virgin wearing a pink robe and a green gown scattered with gold stars. There was also Jesus Christ below. The banner was dominated by gold hues and had two spikes. This flag was chosen by Miguel Hidalgo Costilla, a Catholic priest and war leader known as the Father of the Nation.
Miguel Hidalgo is believed to have carried the standard on September 16, 1810, after the event that triggered the War of Independence. This event, known as the Grito de Dolores, took place in Dolores, Mexico, and, on the surface, it was as simple as a church bell ringing. However, Miguel Hidalgo also gave a speech, in which he condemned the current social order and de facto gave the call to arms. As a result, the banner he carried became the first symbol of the rebel army and is even considered the country’s first flag by quite a few historians.
1811 – 1812
After Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla was executed in 1811, an elite infantry regiment was created in honor of his death, known as Regimiento de la muerte del Doliente de Hidalgo (Regiment of Death of the Mourner of Hidalgo). The centerpiece of its flag was a human skull, which is called Totenkopf in heraldry. It was placed over a cross formed by two long bones, which, in its turn, was placed over a larger black cross. The name of the regiment can be seen above.
1812 – 1814
José María Morelos, a Catholic priest who led the War of Independence after Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla’s death, used several flags with prominent light blue and white background. What made the background unique was the check pattern, a pretty unusual choice for a heraldic symbol.
One such flag featured the Virgin and the lettering V.V.M., which stood for a Latin phrase translated as “long live the Virgin Mary.” There was also a flag showcasing a crowned eagle on a cactus over a three-arched gold bridge. The eagle was encircled by the lettering “Victrix. Oculis et Unguibus Aeque” (“By Her Eyes and Claws Equally Victorious”). The check pattern here was used only along the border of the flag.
1815 – 1817
Probably the most prominent and widely used flag of this period took its final form around 1815 after Morelos was executed. At the center, there was the eagle on a cactus. The eagle was holding a serpent in his beak. Below the cactus, there was water.
The central image was surrounded by various weapons, including cannons, guns, and even arrows. Flags with sharp tips could be seen, too. The weapons were supposed to emphasize the military power of the country and its ability to fight for its independence. The ribbon featuring the lettering “Indepencia Mexicana Ano de 1810” supported this concept explicitly. The background was formed by a white and light blue check pattern, and there was also a thick red line along the border of the flag.
Additionally, there is evidence that the Revolutionary Army would flow a banner showcasing vertical strips, white, blue, and red.
1821 – 1823
The tricolor combining green, white, and red was formally adopted, when Mexico eventually achieved independence under the conservative Iguala Plan, a revolutionary proclamation declared on 24 February 1821. This combination of colors was apparently first used in the flag of the so-called Army of the Three Guarantees, which was the unified army formed by the Spanish troops and the Mexican insurgent troops. The decree introducing the flag was issued by Agustín de Iturbide in November 1821, but it wasn’t until July 1822 that it was flown in the formal settings for the first time.
It’s possible that the flag was inspired by the French Tricolor, which also came to life during the time of national struggle. However, the three colors had distinctively Mexican origins.
What made this flag different from the current one was that there was no snake in the eagle’s talons. Also, in the original version, the bird wore a crown to represent the connection with the Empire. That was the country’s official coat of arms back then.
In addition to the primary national flag, there was also a naval ensign, where the eagle wearing a crown appeared over the familiar tricolor design. The country’s military, in its turn, had a square flag featuring a larger eagle, which spread its wings even to the green and red stripes.
1823 – 1864
The empire only lasted a couple of years until 1823. Then, the emperor was overthrown by army officers in the course of the operation known as the Plan of Casa Mata. As a result, Central America and Chiapas joined into the Federal Republic of Central America. In 1824, the First Mexican Republic was officially formed.
The new flag was introduced in 1823. At first glance, it looked the same as its predecessor. However, upon closer inspection, one can notice that the crown, the symbol of the empire, disappeared. Instead, another symbol was introduced, the laurel and oak branches. Also, the bird was now holding a serpent in its beak and right talon.
1864 – 1867
Following the civil war between Liberal and Conservative governments (1858–1861), the Second Mexican Empire was proclaimed in 1864, and the old banner was discontinued.
The tricolor scheme remained intact, and there was still a coat of arms in the middle. This time, though, a lot of new elements appeared. Most notably, there were four gold eagles wearing crowns – one bird in each corner. One more bird, the eagle of Anahuac, was depicted in the center, with a cactus behind. There was also the rock, the water, and an intricate oval design used as a frame for the central eagle. Last but not least, a large crown could be seen over the eagle’s head.
The coat of arms was created according to the order of Emperor Maximilian, who wanted it to be somewhat reminiscent of the French Imperial arms.
1867 – 1880
The political struggle for power in the country remained intense. One of the episodes involved the opposition between Porfirio Díaz, a hero of the Cinco de Mayo, and Liberal President Benito Juárez. In 1867, Juárez was re-elected. On September 16, 1968, he adopted a flag looking pretty much the same as the one from 1823, where there was a serpent, the oak, and laurel, but no crown could be seen.
1880 – 1898
Juárez died in office in 1872, but the flag outlived him. It was only in 1880, during the rule of Porfirio Díaz, that the design was tweaked. Most notably, the hues were slightly modified, as well as a couple of other details. The overall style remained unchanged. The flag was confirmed by law on February 24, 1984.
1899 – 1916
Once again, the banner went through an update, which didn’t touch its core. You could notice that the bird became of a lighter shade of brown, close to gold. The shape of the branches was slightly modified. The serpent became teal, which visually separated it from the blue color of the water and the bright green of the laurel and oak.
1916 – 1918
In 1916, Venustiano Carranza, who was President of Mexico from 1917 until his assassination in 1920, issued a decree concerning the flag. The basic composition remained the same, but the coat of arms was redrawn. This time, the eagle was depicted in a side-facing position. It also adopted a more dynamic and aggressive style.
1918 – 1934
Just a couple of years later, the coat of arms was modified again. The updates were most obvious when it came to the colors – the bird was now of a brighter hue with a more prominent admixture of red.
1934 – 1968
The redesign that took place in 1934 most likely resulted from the desire to make the coat of arms look more professional and modern. This time, the eagle’s feathers were depicted in large detail, while the serpent’s skin looked far more realistic than on the previous flag. Even the choice of colors for the image now was much more refined and thought-through.
1968 – present
Eventually, the eagle was redrawn once again. However, the updates were pretty subtle. They mostly concerned the hues and the way the tricolor pattern was positioned. Also, a water puddle reappeared, which was present in many previous versions.
While the exact reason for the modification isn’t clear, some sources claim it was because Mexico City was preparing to host the 1968 Summer Olympic Games. Almost simultaneously, the country got rid of its merchant ensign, which looked the same as the national flag but didn’t have the eagle. The reason why this flag was abandoned was its similarity to the Italian tricolor.
Meaning of Symbols and Colors
The symbolic meaning attributed to the flag colors has been modified over time.
The original interpretation given in 1821 had deep political roots. Green was interpreted as the symbol of independence, white emphasized the connection to Roman Catholicism, while red represented the unified army of the Three Guarantees. The flag was an important symbol of political compromise combining freedom from Spain with the power of Catholicism. Due to this compromise, the local Creoles could go on ruling people who had mixed ethnic backgrounds or belonged to the Indian majority.
A new interpretation, which is less politically oriented, explains green as the symbol of hope and fertility of the soil. In the context of this version, white stands for purity, while red reminds us of all the blood shed during the War of Independence.
Use of the Flag
The ratio of the flag is 4:7. It is an important distinctive feature, which separates it from the Italian flag. The latter is closer to the square and has a 2:3 ratio. Another distinction is the shade of the colors – they are lighter in the Italian flag.
The formal description of the flag of Mexico is given in Article 3 of the Law on the National Arms, Flag, and Anthem from 1984. The official copies of the flag are preserved in the General National Archive and the National Museum of History.
There is no law, however, identifying the exact colors to be used. The Flags of the World site provides specific information on the topic, which was presumably acquired through personal communication. Flags of the World cites the Interior Ministry (Secretaría de Gobernación) as their source, but the ministry has never given official explanations. Anyway, the shades in the table at the beginning of this article were the ones used by the manual prepared by the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.
Coat of Arms
The coat of arms represents the legend of the founding of Tenochtitlan (which later became Mexico City) described at the beginning of this article. The respective set of symbols became so popular because it could be interpreted on two levels, satisfying both the Indian majority and the Hispanic conquerors, as well as their descendants.
For those brought up within the context of European tradition, an eagle killing a serpent is an ancient Christian symbol standing for the victory of good over evil. For the Aztecs, their legend also had strong religious connotations rooted in prophecies.
The elements of the design are:
- the eagle, in a dynamic and aggressive position. For the Aztecs, this bird symbolized the sun and the victorious god Huitzilopochtli. So, in the legend, it wasn’t just the eagle, but Huitzilopochtli, who, in the form of the eagle, appeared in front of the Aztecs and bowed to them.
- the serpent, according to Indian beliefs, symbolized the earth and, in some local traditions, represented Quetzalcoatl. In Aztec mythology, for instance, the serpent represented Coatlicue, which symbolized the earth and mother of Huitzilopochtli. The interesting thing here is that when the eagle was shown eating the serpent, this was in conflict with Mesoamerican beliefs. According to some sources, the eagle in the original image was holding not a snake but the glyph of war. The sources state that this glyph had been misinterpreted as the snake because of their somewhat similar shape.
- the cactus (nopal), with its fruits (tunas). The fruit symbolizes the heart of Copil, Huitzilopochtli’s nephew. According to Ramírez Codex, the Aztecs were ordered to “build the city in the place of Copil’s heart,” so tunas play a crucial role in the coat of arms and have been explicitly drawn on many of its versions . Also, historians believe that the tunas reminded them of the Aztec human sacrifice traditions.
- the rock surrounded by water, both coming from the Aztec prophecies.
- oak and laurel branches joined with a ribbon featuring the colors of the national flag.
