The Mexican National Flag and Emblem
The Mexican National Flag and its crest are symbols that represent the nation. Its origination can be traced back to the period of independence, when Mexico broke free from European foreign rule. The history of the crest or emblem of the flag is based on the representation of the founding of the land were Tenochtitlan was built. According to legend the Aztec God of War had given them a sign in which they were to build their Empire. The sign was an eagle perched on a cactus that would be tearing apart a serpent. After a long journey traveling from Aztlan, which is currently Nayarit, the Aztecs found what they had been searching for in the valley of Mexico, the eagle on the cactus on the shores of Lake Anahuac, on a small island.
The sign given by Huitzilopochtli (the Aztec God of War) is reproduced in the emblem of the National Flag. The renovation of life to the indigenous people is depicted in the eagle, in left profile, standing up and perched on a nopal cactus. The eagle is resting on its left claw while holding a rattlesnake with its right claw and griping the other portion of the snake with its beak as if ready to tear it apart. The nopal cactus on which the eagle stands is emerging from an islet, which is a small island. The cactus contains red cactus fruit (tunas), which represents the human heart to the Aztecs. The national emblem also contains a symbol of a republic along with the pre-Hispanic codices (manuscripts such as symbols). The republic is symbolized in the lower part of the emblem containing two garlands joined by a three colored ribbon, on its left is oak and on its right is laurel. The use of the banners and ribbons can be dated back to ancient Mexican hist...
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...ion it would be surrounded by the symbols of the republic, the oak and laurel braches tied together with a three-color ribbon.
Since then the elements of the flag have been conserved, although the emblem and the eagle has change from time to time in the forms of profile view to frontal view and also three fourths position. In 1865 the emblem changed when the emperor Maximilian be shown in frontal view with a crown shown over the eagle. Later, Porfirio Diaz ordered the eagle to be facing forward with its wings outspread. Venustiano Carranza also changed it when he decided that the eagle should be in left profile and bear the characteristics noted by the Mexican government when they discovered Tenochtitlan. Till now, presidents have modified the emblem however; the emblem as designed by the administration of Carranza's administration has been kept and respected.
Cheech Marin, a comedian actor and activist, said, “You have to want to be Chicano to be Chicano.” What Cheech Marin means by this is that being Chicano is something Chicanos feel and think instead of letting others give them that title. Before there were Aztecs and Chicanos there were the Mexica. The Mexica were natives who migrated all through out what is now known as Mexico. They each spread to different parts of the land. Most ended up in what is now present day Mexico City. Those Mexica later became the Aztecs. The Aztecs had a myth of how the earth and all living things were created. In the myth the Aztec sun god and the goddess of Earth both created all living things. Hence, making all Aztecs royalty. The city was then destroyed by the Spanish conquistadores. Although the Spaniards won the Aztecs didn’t go down without a fight.
... A few photos of Tenochtitlan and warriors headdresses, clubs and obsidian blades would increase the pleasure 10 fold. Also in places the author tends to divert to other Ameriindian cultures and use their ritual practices as examples. These comparisons can bring the ritual practices of a 500 year extant culture into modern day belief.
During the 1800s there were many revolutions that caused fighting and disagreement in Europe and Latin America. Many brave countries stood up to the mother country to fight the vicious battle for independence. One of the many countries fighting for independence was Haiti. Haiti was trying to get independence from France. In 1804 Saint Domingue declared their independence and named the new nation. Another country fighting for the battle of independence was Mexico. Mexico fought hard with Spain to gain their independence. There was a dispute between the mexicans because some did not want to fight against Spain and just stay a part of their nation and government. Miguel Hidalgo made the first public call for Mexican Independence in 1821. In document 5 there is a painting and all the people of Mexico are taking part in the movement for independence no matter what color they are. The people are taking pride in their country and beliefs by holding up signs and following Father Miguel Hidalgo.
The children which were the stars and Coyotxauhqu became jealous and feared that now they would no longer be as important to her and decided the murder her. The children decapitated the Coatlicue which cause the new born child Huitzilopotchi to be born in armor and seek vengeance upon his siblings. He threw his sisters body down the mountain and tossed her head into the air to become the moon. This myth was used by the Aztecs as a metaphors as to why the sun, moon, and stars are how they are now, but also to show how Huitzilopotchi became the sun god telling how the sun and moon came into place. The Aztec people traveled until they found a cactus with an eagle nesting obeying Huilzilopotchli command and settled there which is now known as Tenochtitlan. After the fall of the Aztec, the work was found by Christians and reburied because of the assumption that it represented something evil. The art was not supposed to be viewed as evil but to show the Coatlicue as part human, part earth animal, and animal that represented life and death. The goddess played a
The downfall of the Aztec Empire was a major building block of the Spanish colonial empire in the Americas. Spain’s empire would stretch all the way into North America from the Southwest United States all the way up the Pacific Coast. The unfortunate side effect of this was the elimination of many nations of indigenous people. The three major themes shown in this conquest really give deeper look into the anatomy of this important historical event. Without context on the extent of native assistance given to Cortez in his fight with the Aztecs, a reader would be grossly uniformed. The Spanish conquest was closer to a civil war than an actual conquest. Until reading detailed personal accounts of the fighting it is difficult to judge the deadly effectiveness of the Spaniards technological superiority. Without it is difficult to imagine 500 conquistadors holding thousands of native warriors at bay. Once the greed of Cortez and greed in general of the Europeans one understands that if it wasn’t Cortez if would have just been a different man at a different time. Unfortunately fame and prosperity seem to always win over cares about fellow human beings
The Florida’s governor suggested adding the red cross so the flag would not look like a banner of truce or surrender while hanging limp on a flagpole. Florida voters agreed amendment to Florida’s constitution was made in 1900 which describes the current design. Many flags have flown over Florida since the European explorers first landed here in the early sixteenth century. The flags that landed
Grandjeat, Charles Yves. “ Nationalism, History and Myth: The Masks of Aztlan,” Confluencia, Vol6, No. 1 (Fall 1990):19-32. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27921957
First I would like to include some information about our american flag and how it came about. In the British colonies of North America before the Revolution, each of the 13 colonies had its flag. On Jan. 2, 1776, the first flag of the United States was raised at Cambridge, Mass., by George Washington. Known as the Grand Union flag, it consisted of 13 stripes, alternate red and white, with a blue canton bearing the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew. Congress, on June 14, 1777, enacted a resolution “that the Flag of the United States be 13 stripes alternate red and white, that the Union be 13 stars white in a blue field representing a new constellation.” On Jan. 13, 1794, Vermont and Kentucky having been admitted to the Union, Congress added a stripe and a star for each state. Congress in 1818 enacted that the 13 stripes, denoting the 13 original colonies, be restored and a star added to the blue canton for each state after its admission to the Union. All of the states and territories of the United States also have their own flags. Betsy Ross created the first flag. Betsy would often tell her children, grandchildren, relatives, and friends of the fateful day when three members of a secret committee from the Continental Congress came to call upon her. Those representatives, George Washington, Robert Morris, and George Ross, asked her to sew the first flag. This meeting occurred in her home some time late in May 1776. George Washington was then the head of the Continen...
The reason for this is a prophecy. The prophecy said that when they saw an eagle sitting on a cactus with a snake in its mouth that was where they were to build their great civilization. For that reason they called it Tenochtitlan, meaning place of the cactus. Since the prophecy was filled upon an island in the middle of a small lake, called Lake Texcoco, land became short.
In a matter of three to four years, Cortes had effectively conquered the Aztec peoples through a blend of fierce militarism, diplomacy, and treachery as part of the motivation to colonize the indigenous peoples. Surely, the symbolism of the Spanish conquistador is conformed in the total colonization and defeat of the Aztec civilization ass part of Cortes’ mission in Mexico. More so, the capital of Mexico, Mexico City, was built on the foundations of the city of Tenochtitlan as a basis for the formation of Mexico as a colonial state governed through Spain: Since Hernan Cortes made the decision to construct his new capital on the ruins of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec city of lakes” (Krauze 3). In this context, the importance of Cortes’ role in Mexico is defining moment in the Spanish culture that dominated the indigenous populations after the defeat of the Aztecs. Cortes was a leading figure in the first phase of Spanish colonization of Central America, which would result in larger Spanish colonization of this region through the 16th
The Aztec civilization was a very complex society that was feared and known well for their various gory sacrifices done to please their many gods in their polytheistic religion. The much feared civilization began by the exile of one of the two Toltec leaders, which lead to the decline of the Toltec state that was later replaced by Mexica, or the Aztecs. According to the Aztecs, the land chosen to build their main city was chosen by the portrayal of an eagle perched on a cactus with a snake in its mouth. Through military might, the Aztecs managed to become the most powerful civilization in the mid-fourteenth century. They maintained their power through military might and the fear they caused other civilizations because of the human sacrifices they performed on their captured victims.
Mexico which was the colony of New Spain was put in existence for the advantage of their mother country. After the tumble of the Aztec Empire, Spain retitled the captured lands as the “viceroyalty” of New Spain and governed Mexico for three hundred years. Tenochtitlan was the prior capital of the territory and turned into what is known as Mexico City. After studying and obtaining power over some of the lands in Central Mexico, the Spanish government established a colonial mining technique wherein gold, silver, and additional metals were obtained and taken to Spain. Shadowing the techniques that was started in Spain, the colonial authorities granted the new arrivals and warriors the power to make haciendas near the country. The laborers most times were native people that were paid poorly which made them rely on the hacienda proprietor to maintain a living. Some of the workers
Domestic violence involves the systematic use of force, threats and intimidation by one partner upon another in order for the dominating partner to have control over the victim. In general, women who are abused physically are often isolated. Their partners tend to control their lives to a great extent as well as verbally degrade them. Even though the Latina women are particularly vulnerable to domestic violence because of their culture, it does not mean that this situation does not exist in other societies. Domestic violence happens in all races, religions and social statuses. It could appear in any family and in order to prevent it, everyone in the society must have knowledge of the problem, and try to contribute to stop it. There are many reasons why Latina women that have been abused by their husbands do not ask for help or call the police. The most common ones are the cultural background, the language barrier, and the fear they have of being alone. In the Latin culture there is the belief that when a woman gets married, she should obey he...
One of the factors that led to the Mexican independence is the socio-political conditions of the native Mexicans after being invaded by Spain. After the fall of Tenochtitlan, and for the three hundred years that followed, indigenous
The symbolism of the Flag was thus interpreted by Washington: “We take the stars from Heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her, and the white stripes shall go down to posterity representing Liberty.”