Flags Day (24 Of February).

Flags Day (24 of February).

February 24th is a solemn day as it is the day dedicated to one of the most important patriotic symbols of Mexico, which gives the spirit of unity and belonging to Mexicans either within or outside of the country: the Flag. Mexico’s flag is well-known internationally by its colors and coat of arms.

The significance of the eagle perched on a nopal is representative of an ancient Aztec legend of God telling wandering Aztecs that when they came across an eagle eating a snake while perched on a nopal cactus growing out of a rock surrounded by water, that is where they were to build their home. That spot became Tenochtitlán, or rather modern day Mexico City.]

It was not until 11 years later that, following the Plan de Iguala that brought together the troops of Agustín de Iturbide and Vicente Guerrero to create the Trigarante Army, would the struggle for independence come to an end. It was then on February 24th when Iturbide decided to create a flag that would reflect the ideals of the Insurgent movement, contracting the tailor José Magdaleno Ocampo to make a tri-color flag with diagonal stripes. Each color had its own meaning: white – the purity of the Catholic religion (which was the State religion until the constitution of 1857), green – representing the Insurgents movement (also known as the Independence), and finally red – representing the Spanish group adhering to the liberating impulse. Nevertheless, this still did not carry the emblematic national coat of arms.

That same year, on November 2nd, when the Trigarante Army victoriously entered Mexico City, Iturbide decreed the Mexican flag be made up of the same colors yet with vertical stripes and in the order that continues today: green, white, and red. In the center was placed an eagle wearing an imperial crown, with wings down and perched on a nopal cactus.

Even so, this emblem was not pleasing following the Iturbide empire and in 1823 the eagle lost its imperial crown, which was replaced with branches of oak and laurel as a symbol of the Republic.

Over the years the eagle has changed positions on various occasions, yet it was not until 1916, when President Venustiano Carranza decreed the flag recover its former style, that its profile was shown with it devouring a snake and perched on a nopal cactus.

The version of the flag that waves overhead across the nation today is an adaptation of the Carranza design (changing the profile of the eagle), which was decreed as such on Dec. 27, 1967, just in time for the Olympic games hosted by Mexico.

Since 1937, the date of Feb. 24th (officially recognized in 1940 by President Lázaro Cárdenas) has been publicly commemorated in front of the monument to General Don Vicente Guerrero who was the first Mexican military official to swear before the flag during an event known as “The embrace of Acatempan” on March 12, 1821.

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