Coat of arms of Mexico

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Coat of Arms (current)

The Coat of Arms of Mexico has been an important symbol of Mexican politics and culture for centuries. The current coat of arms has changed little since the Aztecs first developed it almost seven hundred years ago. The coat of arms depicts a Mexican golden eagle, perched upon a cactus, devouring a snake. To the Aztecs this would have strong religious connotations, but to the Europeans, it would come to symbolize the triumph of good over evil.

1 Official story
2 The Aztec legend
3 The Creatures
4 History
5 External links

[edit] Official story

According to the official story of México, the coat of arms of Mexico was inspired by an Aztec legend regarding the founding of Tenochtitlan. The Aztecs, then a nomadic tribe, were wandering throughout Mexico in search of a divine sign that would indicate the precise spot upon which they were to build their capital. Their god Huitzilopochtli had commanded them to find an eagle devouring a snake, perched atop a cactus that grew on a rock submerged in a lake. After two hundred years of wandering, they found the promised sign on a small island in the swampy Lake Texcoco. It was there they founded their new capital, Tenochtitlan.

[edit] The Aztec legend

original eagle, from the Mendoza codex

A closer look at the original Aztec codices, paintings, and the post-Cortesian codices shows that there was no snake in the original legends. While, the Féjérvary-Meyer codex depicts an eagle attacking a snake, other Aztec illustrations, like the Codex Mendoza, show only an eagle, while in the text of the Ramirez Codex, Huitzilopochtli asked the Aztecs to look for an eagle devouring a precious bird perched on a cactus. In the text by Chimalpahin Cuauhtlehuanitzin, the eagle is devouring something, but it is not mentioned what it is. Still other versions show the eagle clutching the Aztec symbol of war, the Atl-Tlachinolli glyph, or "burning water".

The original meanings of the symbols were different in numerous aspects. The eagle was a representation of the sun god Huitzilopochtli, who was very important, as the Aztecs referred to themselves as the People of the Sun. The cactus, full of its fruits, called "tenochtli" in Nahuatl, represent the island of Tenochtitlan, upon which the Aztec civilization was founded. To the Aztec people, the snake represented wisdom, and it had strong connotations with the god Quetzalcoatl. To the Aztecs, this scene depicting an eagle overpowering a snake would be considered wrong.

The story of the snake was derived from an incorrect translation of the Crónica mexicáyotl by Fernando Alvarado Tezozomoc. In the story, the Nahuatl text ihuan cohuatl izomocayan, "the snake hisses", was mistranslated as "the snake is torn". Based on this, Father Diego Durán reinterpreted the legend, so that the eagle represents all that is good and right, while the snake represents evil and sin. Despite its inaccuracy, the new legend was adopted because it conformed with European heraldic tradition. To the Europeans it would represent the struggle between good and evil. Although this interpretation does not conform to pre-Columbian traditions, it was an element that could be used by the first missionaries for the purposes of evangelism and the conversion of the native peoples.

This version of the story was used for the first time in 1581 by Father Diego Durán, who used it to illustrate his "Atlas de la Historia de los Indios de la Nueva España e Islas de Tierra Firme", and it was soon adopted by others. But it would not be used as a coat of arms until the War of Independence.

[edit] The Creatures

The bird featured on the Mexican coat of arms is the golden eagle. This bird is known officially as águila real (literally, "royal eagle"). In 1960, the Mexican ornithologist Martín del Campo identified the eagle in the pre-Hispanic codex as the caracara or "quebrantahuesos", a species common in Mexico (although the name "eagle" is taxonomically incorrect, as the caracara is a type of falcon). Even so, the golden eagle is considered the Mexican eagle for official purposes, and for the same reason is considered the official bird of Mexico.

When Father Duran introduced the snake, it was originally an aquatic serpent. But in 1917, the serpent was portrayed as a rattlesnake, because it was more common than the aquatic varieties in pre-Hispanic illustrations. As a result of this, the design and color of the snake on the modern coat of arms do not correspond with those of any species of snake, and were inspired by the representations of Quetzalcoatl, a rattlesnake with quetzal feathers.

[edit] History

The Aztecs, who probably adopted the custom from the Toltecs, were known to use flags to organize and coordinate their warriors in battle. The flags or pantli were made out of different colored feathers and diplayed 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-off 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.

In 1581 Father Duran draws his version of the foundation of Mexico on his book about Mexico, the snake is included for the first time. It would become a common icon, but it would still not be used as a coat of arms.

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 1810 Father Miguel Hidalgo, leader of the first stage of the Independence war used the 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 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 there 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, would introduce a royal crown on the eagle as a symbol of his empire. The elements would be drawn in a European style, the eagle was drawn in front view.

In 1823, with a design by José Mariano Torreblanca, the crown would be removed, and new elements from European tradition would be 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. But until 1917 it would not be defined by law, so many variants could be found.

Second Mexican Empire (Maximilian von Habsburg)

In 1863, Maximiliano de Habsburgo, the second Emperor of Mexico, would reintroduce the royal crown, and the coat of arms would be surrounded by the Imperial mant with the motto Religión, Independencia ("Religion, Independence").

In 1865, in a second version for Maximiliano, the royal crown disappeared and two glyphs were introduced with the motto Equidad en la Justicia ("Equity in Justice").

In 1867, after the fall of the Empire, the Republic restored most of the elements of the 1823 version.

In 1887, President Porfirio Díaz would make changes to the eagle, so that its overall appearance reflected the French style.

In 1916, President Venustiano Carranza reverted the changes made by Diaz, and restored some of the original Aztec symbols: the aquatic 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.^[1]

In 1968, President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz ordered a small change, so the eagle would look more aggressive, and this design, by painter 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 (2000-2006) appears the image of the head of the eagle and the snake coming up from a stripes. This image has been called by the detractors of the President Fox administration "El Águila Mocha" - literally "the slashed eagle" but also colloquially "The holier-than-thou Eagle" referring to Fox's government links with the religious-right ("mocho" can mean both "cut" and "chauvinistic").