Coat of Arms of Mexico: Encyclopedia - Coat of Arms of Mexico

Coat of Arms of Mexico

The Coat of Arms of Mexico has been an important symbol of Mexican politics and culture for centuries. The current coat of arms has hardly changed since the Aztecs first developed it almost seven hundred years ago. The coat of arms depicts a Mexican golden eagle, purched 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.

Coat of Arms of Mexico - Official story

The Coat of Arms of Mexico was inspired by an Aztec legend regarding the founding of Tenochtitlan. According to popular legend, the Aztec people people, 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. The 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 here they founded their new capital, Tenochtitlan.

Coat of Arms of Mexico - The Aztec legend

A closer look at the original Aztec codices, paintings, and the post-Cortesian codices, show there was no snake in the original legend. In some Aztec illustrations, like the Mendoza codex, there is only an eagle, while in the text of the Ramirez codex, Huitzilopochtli asked the Aztec to look 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. And 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 reffered 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 had strong connotations with the god, Quetzalcoatl. To the Aztecs, scene depicting an eagle overpowering a snake would be considered wrong.

The story of the snake was derived from an incorrect translation of the Mexicayotl chronicle by Alvaro Tezozomoc. In the story, the Nahuatl text ihuan cohuatl izomocayan, "the snake hisses", was mistranslated as "the snake is torn". Based on this, father Duran reinterpreted the legend, so that the eagle represents all that is good and right, while the snake represents evil, and sin. Despite it’s inaccuracy, it was adopted because it conformed with European heraldic tradition. To the Europeans it would represent the struggle between good and evil. Although this does not confrom to the 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.

The version of this story would be 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 was soon adopted by others. But it would not be until the war of independence, that it would be used as a coat of arms.

Coat of Arms of Mexico - The Creatures

The bird featured on the Mexican coat of arms is the golden eagle. This bird is known officially as la águila real (lit. royal eagle). In 1960, the Mexican ornithologist, Martín del Campo, identified the eagle in prehispanic codex as the caracara or "quebrantahuesos", a species common in Mexico (although this name 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 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 prehispanic ilustrations. 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 Queztalcoatl, a rattle snake with quetzal feathers.

Coat of Arms of Mexico - History

• In 1821, Agustin de Iturbide First Emperor of México, would introduce a royal crown in the eagle as symbol of his empire. The elements would be drawn in an 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 celebrated the victory of the republic. The coat of armas was now oficial and began to be used in coins, stamps, seals and oficial papers. But until 1917 it would not be defined by law, so many variants could be found.

• In 1863, Maximiliano de Habsburgo, Second Emperor of México, would reintroduce the royal crown, and the coat of arms would be surronded by the imperial mant with the motto "religion, independencia".

• 1865, a second version for the Empire of Maximiliano the royal crown disapeared, and introduced two gryphs, with the motto, "Equidad en la Justicia" (equity in justice).

• 1867, after the fall of the empire, the republic restored most of the elements of the 1823 version.

• In 1887, President Porfirio Diaz would make changes to the eagle, so that it's overall appearance reflected the French style.

• In 1916, Presidente Venustiano Carranza reverted the changes made by Diaz, and restored some of the original Aztec symbols, the acuatic snake was replaced with a rattle snake, and the eagle was now seen in a side view, instead of a front view. This desing was done by the artists Antonio Gómez and Jorge Enciso. But due to the political problems of that time, it was not made oficial until 1932, under president Abelardo Rodriguez.^[1]

• In 1968, President Gustavo Diaz 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.

• The design also forms the center of the Mexican flag.

See also

The Tale of the Eagle: a legend from Albania explaining the origin of their indigenous name, which also features an eagle with a snake.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Coat of Arms of Mexico", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki