Flag of Mexico
The official flag of Mexico is a vertical tricolor of green, white, and red stripes with the National Coat of Arms charged on the white stripe. These colors were adopted for the first national flag after Mexico’s independence from Spain in 1821.
Specifications
The official design of the Mexican flag is specified in Article 3 of the National Arms and Anthem Law. It dictates the flag’s proportions and its features.
According to the article, the Mexican flag is:
- A rectangle divided into three vertical stripes of equal proportion;
- Colors are arranged from hoist to fly as green, white, and red;
- Centered on the white stripe is the National Coat of Arms, with a diameter of three-fourths of the white stripe;
- Proportion is 4:7.
Colors
The Secretariat of the Interior has suggested the following tones in the Pantone system. Translations to other color systems are also provided in the table below.
Color Scheme |
Green |
White |
Red |
Pantone |
3425c |
Safe |
186c |
RGB |
0-104-71 |
255-255-255 |
206-17-38 |
CMYK |
100-0-32-59 |
0-0-0-0-0 |
0-92-82-19 |
Web Colors |
006847 |
FFFFFF |
CE1126 |
Meaning of Colors
The colors of the flag were from the banner of the Army of the Three Guarantees. The colors originally had the following meaning:
- Green: independence (from Spain)
- White: religion (Roman Catholic faith)
- Red: union (between the Europeans and Americans)
Article 3 of the Flag Law does not provide any official symbolism to the colors. However, the following new color meanings are widely accepted:
- Green: hope
- White: unity, purity
- Red: blood of the national heroes, religion
History
War of Independence
The standard of the Virgin of Guadalupe represented the struggle for independence by its people. This happened before the creation of the national flag. The standard was carried by Miguel Hidalgo during the “Cry of Dolores” in 1810 and subsequently became the initial symbol of the rebel army. The Mexican revolutionary priest and leader, José María Morelos, had also used a flag of a blue and white crest with a crowned eagle on a cactus over a three-arched bridge. It also contained the letters VVM, which stands for “Viva la Virgen María”.
The revolutionary army had also used the colors white, blue, and red in their flags. The first actual use of the colors red, white, and green was in the flag of the Unified Army of the Three Guarantees after the independence had been won.
Evolution of the National Flag
Mexico’s first national flag was created in 1821, during the first year of the recognized Mexican sovereignty. The flag was a tricolor of green, white, and red arranged vertically, with the crowned eagle set at the center of the white stripe.
Though the first flag resembles the flag currently used today, the eagle on this insignia is not holding a serpent with its talons and has its crown affixed to its head to signify the empire. This flag was no longer in use when the empire was abolished.
The establishment of the first Federal Republic in 1823 paved the way for the creation of the second national flag to represent the new republic. The new flag resembled the first with only a few changes on the emblem. The crown was removed and the serpent was placed in the eagle’s right talon. A branch of oak and laurel branches were also added in the emblem. This flag was discontinued in 1864 with the dissolution of the Federal Republic.
Mexico’s third national flag came to represent the Second Mexican Empire. It used the same pattern of colors with the national arms charged at the center of the white stripe. However, the ratio of the flag was changed from 4:7 to 1:2. Four eagles with crowns above their heads were placed on each corner of the flag. The design of the arms resembled the French imperial arms, with a few features added by the Emperor Maximilian to distinguish it from the latter. The flag was disposed in 1867 when Maximmillian was overthrown and executed by the Mexican people.
In 1968, the fourth flag was adopted in 1968 and was confirmed by law in 1984. It is also now being used as the country’s national flag. The flag is a variation of the design approved by a presidential decree in 1916, where the eagle was changed from a front-facing to a side-facing position.
