Coat of arms of Mexico

Coat of arms of Mexico Escudo Nacional de México
Versions
Seal of the Government of Mexico
Black and White Version of the Seal of the Government of Mexico (Linear)
rattle snake, all proper
Supporters	Oak and laurel leaves, all proper

The coat of arms of Mexico (

The coat of arms recalls the founding of

Moreover, the original meanings of the symbols were different in numerous ways. The eagle was a representation of the sun god

In 1960, the Mexican

• The eagle, in a combative stance
• The snake, held by a talon and the beak of the eagle
• The nopal on which the eagle stands; The nopal bears some of its fruits (tunas)
• The pedestal, on which the nopal grows, immersed in the Aztec symbol for water
• Oak and laurel leaves encircling the eagle cluster; tied together with a ribbon with the Mexican flag's colors

• The emblem can be interpreted on at least two levels of abstraction. First, the pictographic/logographic depiction of the name of the Aztec's capital city,
  Aztec
  culture.
• The emblem shows an eagle devouring a serpent, which actually is in conflict with Mesoamerican belief. The eagle is a symbol of the sun and a representation of the victorious god
  Coatlicue
  , the personification of earth and mother of Huitzilopochtli. In some codices, the eagle holds the glyph for war to represent the victorious Huitzilopochtli. This glyph, the Atl tlachinolli, which means "water and flame", has a certain resemblance with a snake, and may plausibly be the origin of this confusion.
• With the element, the attributed element of the moon, it recalls the mythology of the god and hero of the Aztecs.
• The fruit of the nopal cactus, called tuna, represents the heart of Copil, the nephew of the god Huitzilopochtli. The god ordered the people to "build the city in the place of Copil's heart" (Ramírez Codex), where the cactus grew on his land. It also alludes to the human sacrifice customs of the Aztecs.

The

Chronology

Regional government

The Aztecs, who probably adopted the custom from the Toltecs, used flags to organize and coordinate their warriors in battle. The flags or pantli were made out of different colored feathers and displayed the personal coat of arms of the officer carrying them. During the battle the flags were carried on the back to allow mobility and to display prominently the prestige of the warrior. Bernal Díaz del Castillo states that Hernán Cortés defeated the Aztecs in Otumba by knocking the flag off of the Aztec general. The Aztec warriors thought that the general was taken prisoner and thus fled the battleground. Aztec rivals, especially the kingdoms of Tlaxcala and Michoacán, had their own coat of arms. For a few months, after the deposition of Cuauhtémoc , the last Aztec emperor, Cortés governed Mexico as virtual sovereign. Therefore, it could be said that his coat of arms was the official one in Mexico. His personal insignia bore the image of the Virgin Mary. It is known that he carried his insignia throughout the conquest of Mexico. From 1521 to 1821, the coat of arms of New Spain, as Mexico was known, was the Cross of Saint Andrew. It was always displayed alongside the coat of arms of Spain. In 1581, Father Durán drew his version of the foundation of Mexico on his book about Mexico; the snake was included for the first time. It would become a common icon, but it would still not be used as a coat of arms. In 1810, Father Virgin of Guadalupe as a flag or estandarte. It was seized from the parish of Atotonilco . The flag is displayed in the National Museum of History alongside, and with the same rank as, later Mexican flags. In that sense, this religious image could be officially regarded as the first Mexican coat of arms. In 1812, the second stage of the Independence war, José María Morelos y Pavón used a crowned eagle standing atop of three arches and a cactus. In small print inside the arches was the acronym "VVM", which stands for "Viva la Virgen María" (or, Long Live the Virgin Mary). In large print and surrounding the eagle, there are golden letters with the legend "OCVLIS ET VNGVIBUS AEQVE VICTRIX", meaning "BY HER EYES AND GRIP EQUALLY VICTORIOUS". In 1821, Agustín de Iturbide, the first Emperor of Mexico, introduced a royal crown on the eagle as a symbol of his empire. The elements were drawn in a European style; the eagle was drawn in front view. In 1823, with a design by José Mariano Torreblanca, the crown was removed, and new elements from European tradition were introduced to celebrate the victory of the Republic. The coat of arms was now official and began to be used in coins, stamps, seals and official papers. Many variants of this design can be found as it would not be defined by law until 1917. In 1863, Maximilian I of Mexico, the second emperor of Mexico, reintroduced the royal crown, and the coat of arms was surrounded by the imperial mantle with the motto Religión, Independencia ("Religion, Independence"). In 1865, a second version was made for Maximilian, in which the imperial crown disappeared and two glyphs were introduced with the motto Equidad en la Justicia ("Equity in Justice"). In 1867, after the fall of the Second Mexican Empire, the Republic restored most of the elements of the 1823 version. In 1887, President Porfirio Díaz made changes to the eagle so that its overall appearance reflected the French style. In 1916, President Venustiano Carranza reversed the changes made by Díaz, and restored some of the original Aztec symbols: the water snake was replaced with a rattlesnake, and the eagle was now seen in a side view instead of a front view. This design was created by the artists Antonio Gómez and Jorge Enciso. However, due to the political problems of the time, it was not made official until 1932, under President Abelardo L. Rodríguez.[6] In 1968, President Francisco Eppens Helguera , is still used today. Also, a law was made to define and control the use of the national symbols. In 1984, President Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado enacted the current law governing the official design and usage of the national symbols, among them the coat of arms. (The coat of arms also forms the center of the Mexican flag .) In the official documents of the Mexican government secretariates during El Águila Mocha – literally "the slashed eagle" but colloquially also "the prudish eagle", referring to Fox's government links with the religious right (mocho can mean both "mutilated" and "reactionary"). In 2006, President Felipe Calderón adopted the complete coat of arms for official documents and rejected the "slashed eagle".

National   Non-National Coat of arms of Mexico Sovereign Mexico-Tenochtitlan Prehispanic Mesoamerica - Valley of Mexico - Aztec Triple Alliance (from 1428) 1325 — 1521 circa 1325 13 August 1521 Colonial Mexico Northern America - New Spain - Mexican America 1521 — 1821 13 August 1521 7 March 1525 7 March 1525 9 December 1528 9 December 1528 24 February 1530 24 February 1530 17 April 1535 17 April 1535 27 September 1821 Sovereign Mexico Mexican Nation - Mexican Empire Mexican Republic - United Mexican States 1821 — present 2 November 1821 14 April 1823 14 April 1823 15 July 1864 15 July 1864 19 June 1867 19 June 1867 1 April 1893 1 April 1893 20 September 1916 20 September 1916 5 February 1934 5 February 1934 16 September 1968 16 September 1968 Present

Current entities

Main article:

Coats of arms of states of Mexico

See also

• Flag of Mexico
• List of Mexican flags
• National symbols of Mexico
• Seal of New Mexico

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Coats of arms of Mexico.

• Virtual Museum of Mexican Birds (archived 17 January 2005)
• El escudo nacional mexicano (archived 28 October 2005)