Mexican Flag Day - Curiosities
February 24th Flag Day
Flag Day is a national holiday in Mexico. The Day of the Flag is celebrated every year on February 24th since its implementation in 1937. It was also established by Mexico's President, General Lazaro Cardenas.
The design of this flag was used in 1821 and the current flag was officially adopted in 1968. Its colors, red, white and green are the colors of the national liberation army.
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The symbol on the flag pays homage to a native Indian legend. The emblem centered on the white band represents the story of the Aztecs who built their empire in a place where they found an eagle eating a snake on top of a cactus.
It is also believed that the eagle and snake incident was a sign given by one of their gods and the place where it happened is Mexico City.
What do the colors of the Mexican flag mean?
The colors of the flag: green represents hope and victory, white represents purity; and the red band represents the blood that was spilled by the ancestors.
The Mexican national flag is very important because it means freedom, justice and citizenship.
The shield and colors represent the origins, principles, courage and struggle of the Mexican nation.
Throughout the years, different flags have represented Mexico, but the flag used in the Declaration of Independence, with some modifications, is the one that currently represents Mexico.
The Mexican flag has changed throughout the country's history. When Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla declared his independence in 1810, he carried the banner of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
This is considered the first Mexican flag. In 1813, the revolutionaries designed a new flag.
Did you know?
The emblem in the middle of the flag comes from a legendary story of the Aztecs who built their empire in a place where they found an eagle eating a snake on top of a cactus.
It is believed that the eagle and snake incident was a sign given by one of their gods and the place where it happened is today's capital, Mexico City.
What does the flag's coat of arms mean?
Mexico's national coat of arms is inspired by the legend of the foundation of Mexico-Tenochtitlan which basically says that the god Huitzilopochtli told the Aztecs to establish their city where they would find an eagle perched on a nopal cactus.
This is how they settled in the valley of Mexico in central Mesoamerica, in what is now Mexico City.
The current design of the national coat of arms has been in use since 1968 and since February 1984 its use is regulated by the Ministry of the Interior
When the idea of Flag Day came up
On February 24, 1935, Benito Ramirez, an employee of the Bank of Mexico, organized an honor guard in homage to the Mexican flag.
Then it was organized in front of the monument to General Vicente Guerrero, the first Mexican soldier to swear allegiance to the flag, during the famous
However, this practice continued until 1940, when President Lazaro Cardenas declared February 24 as the official Flag Day.
From that moment on, every year Mexicans honor the flag with ceremonies commemorating the heroes who gave their lives for Mexico's freedom and independence.
Likewise, the Day of the Flag is celebrated on February 24th because on that date, in 1821, the document Plan of Iguala was signed in which Mexico was proclaimed as an independent country.
Days and places where the National Flag will be raised
The last reforms (DOF, January 9, 1991 and May 9, 1995) of the "Law on the National Shield, Flag and Hymns" establish the dates when the National Flag must be raised in total and half personal. The dates are as follows:
Art. 16.
The flag flies daily in the seats of the powers of the Union Presidency, Congress, Supreme Court, immigration and customs posts, port authorities, airports, diplomatic and consular offices, and in the Constitution Square in the capital.
Dates and commemorations:
- January 21st: Igancio Allende's birthday (1779).
- February 5: Enactment of the Constitutions of 1957 and 1917
- February 19: "Mexican Army" Day.
- February 24: "Bandera" (flag) Day.
- 1st March: Proclamation of the Plan de Ayutla.
- March 15: Opening of the Congress (second period)
- March 18th: nationalization of the oil industry in 1838.
- March 21st: Benito Juarez's birthday (1806).
- March 26th: Enactment of the Guadalupe Plan.
- April 2nd: capture of Puebla in 1867.
- May 1: Labor Day.
- May 5th: Victory over the French army in Puebla in 1862.
- May 8: Miguel Hidalgo's birthday (1753).
- May 15th: capture of Querétaro (1867).
- June 1: National Marine Day .
- June 21: Victory of the National Army over the Empire in 1867.
- September 1: opening of the Congress (first period).
- September 14: Chiapas is incorporated into the Union.
- September 15: "Cry of Independence" .
- September 16: the beginning of the War of Independence in 1810.
- September 27: anniversary of the consummation of independence (1821) .
- 30th September: José María Morelos' birthday (1765).
- October 12: "Day of the Race", anniversary of the Discovery of America in 1492.
- October 23rd: Aviation Day.
- October 24th: Day of ONE.
- October 30th: Francisco I. Madero's birthday (1873)
- November 6: Enactment of the Independence Law by the Congress of Chilpancingo in 1813.
- November 20: The Mexican Revolution begins in 1910.
- November 23: Mexican Navy Day .
- December 29: Venustiano Carranza's birthday (1859).
The following dates and commemorations of Flag Day:
- February 14: death of Vicente Guerreros (1831).
- February 22nd: Death of Francisco I. Madero (1913)
- February 28: Death of Cuauhtémoc (1525).
- April 10th: Death of Emiliano Zapata (1919).
- May 21: Death of Venustiano Carraza (1920).
- 17 July: Death of Álvaro Obregón (1928).
- July 18: Death of Benito Juárez (1872).
- July 30: Death of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (1811).
- September 13: Sacrifice of the "Niños Héroes" of Chapultepec (1847).
- October 7th: Death of Belisario Domínguez (1913).
- December 22nd: Death of José María Morelos (1815) ".
Art. 20.- The national flag shall be raised at eight o'clock and lowered at eighteen o'clock (6:00 p.m.).
The most famous flags in history are:
- The banner of the Virgin of Guadalupe used by the priest Hidalgo in the Grito de Dolores.
- Iturbide's flag that was the first to include the colors green, white and red and the shield of the eagle standing on a cactus devouring a snake, although with a different design.
- Probably the one that had the most showy shield was Maximilian's flag; it had the eagle in the middle of a royal shield, adorned with taps on both sides. In addition, it displayed crowned eagles on each corner.
- The cristera flag, besides bringing the national coat of arms, had the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
Curiosities of the Day of the Flag.
- The shield, with an eagle standing on a cactus that devours a snake, symbolizes the end of the Mexica's journey and the beginning of the founding of Tenochtitlan, today known as Mexico City.
- The banner of the Virgin of Guadalupe was used as an insurgent flag from September 16, 1810.
- When the national coat of arms is reproduced on the back of the national flag, the Mexican eagle will appear perched on its right claw, holding the curved snake with its left and beak.
- When the Trigarant Army arrived in Mexico, Agustin de Iturbide carried the flag and proclaimed Mexico's Independence with it.
- The National Coat of Arms was originally designed by Antonio Gómez, a resident of the city of Pénjamo in the state of Guanajuato.
How to burn a flag
- When it is required to destroy any replica, it should be done by incineration, in a respectful and solemn act.
- Mexico's national symbol is the golden eagle, which occupies a prominent place on the coat of arms.
- It is fully proven that in 1847, Juan Escutia didn't take the Mexican flag flying over Chapultepec Castle, nor wrap himself in it and then throw himself from the top of the then Military College. The flag was taken down by American troops and returned to Mexico until the six-year term of José López Portillo.
- In July 2008 it was announced in Spain that the Mexican flag had been chosen as the most beautiful in the world, with a final vote of 901,627 points.
- The world's largest flag, according to the Guinness Book of Records, is located in Piedras Negras, Coahuila. The flagpole is 120 meters high and supports a 300 kilogram weight labarum.
- However, in a ceremony where other countries participate, the national flag is honored first and then the other countries.
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