Coat of Arms of Mexico: Encyclopedia II - Coat of Arms of Mexico - The Creatures

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.

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