Coat of arms of Mexico

Thecoat of arms of Mexico(Spanish:Escudo Nacional de México, lit. "national shield of Mexico") is anational symbolof Mexico and depicts aMexican (golden) eagleperched on aprickly pear cactusdevouring arattlesnake.The design is rooted in the legend that theAztecpeople would know where to buildtheir cityonce they saw an eagle eating a snake on top of a lake.The image has been an important symbol ofMexican politicsandculturefor centuries. To the people ofTenochtitlan, this symbol had strong religious connotations, and to the Europeans, it came to symbolize the triumph of good over evil (with the snake sometimes representative of the serpent in theGarden of Eden).
TheMexican law on the National Arms, Flag, and Anthemregulates the name, the design and use of the arms. There they are officially called "coat of arms" (Spanish:escudo, literally "shield"), even if there is noheraldic shieldand therefore, according to the rules ofheraldry, it is not a traditional "coat of arms" and more precisely a "national emblem" instead (National Emblem of Mexico). It is in the centre of theflag of Mexico, is engraved on the obverse ofMexican peso coins, and is the basis of theSeal of the United Mexican States, thesealused on any official documents issued by thefederal,stateormunicipalgovernmental authorities. The seal differs from the arms by the addition of the wordsEstados Unidos Mexicanos("United Mexican States", the full official name of the country) in a semicircle around the upper half.
The coat of arms recalls the founding ofMexico City, thenTenochtitlan. The legend of Tenochtitlan, as shown in the originalAztec codices, paintings, and post-Cortesiancodices, does not include a snake. While theCodex Fejérváry-Mayerdepicts an eagle attacking a snake, other Mexica illustrations, such as theCodex Mendoza, show only an eagle; in the text of theRamírez Codex, however,Huitzilopochtliasked the Tenochtitlan people to look for an eagle devouring a snake, perched on aprickly pear cactus. In the text byChimalpahin Cuauhtlehuanitzin, the eagle is devouring something, but it is not mentioned what it is. Other versions (such as the backside of theTeocalli of the Sacred War) show the eagle clutching the Aztec symbol of war, theatl-tlachinolliglyph, or "burning water".
Moreover, the original meanings of the symbols were different in numerous ways. The eagle was a representation of the sun godHuitzilopochtli, who was very important, as theMexicasreferred to themselves as the "People of the Sun". Thecactus(Opuntia ficus-indica), full of its fruits, callednōchtliin Nahuatl, represents the island of Tenochtitlan. To the Mexicans, the snake represented wisdom, and it had strong connotations with the godQuetzalcoatl. The story of the snake was derived from an incorrect translation of theCrónica MexicáyotlbyFernando Alvarado Tezozómoc.In the story, theNahuatltextihuan cohuatl izomocayan"the snake hisses" was mistranslated as "the snake is torn". Based on this, FatherDiego Duránreinterpreted 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 withEuropean heraldic tradition. To the Europeans, it would represent the struggle between good and evil. Although this interpretation does not conform topre-Columbiantraditions, it was an element that could be used by the first missionaries for the purposes ofevangelismand the conversion of thenative peoples.
In 1960, the MexicanornithologistRafael Martín del Campo identified the eagle in the pre-Hispanic codex as thecrested caracaraor "quebrantahuesos" (bonebreaker), a species common in Mexico (although the name "eagle" is taxonomically incorrect, as the caracara is in thefalcon family). The golden eagle is considered the official bird of Mexico.When Father Durán introduced the snake, it was originally an aquatic serpent. But in 1917, the serpent was changed to be arattlesnake, 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 ofQuetzalcoatl, a rattlesnake withquetzalfeathers.
Theseal of New Mexicoincludes the eagle, snake, and cactus of the Mexican seal, sheltered or dominated by a larger bald eagle, representingNew Mexico's history as part of Mexico and its later status as part of the United States. After theterritory of New Mexicowasadmitted to the Unionin 1912, a commission examiningthe new state's symbolsrecommended that both the "American" and "Mexican" eagles beNorth American golden eagles, but instead it uses anAmerican bald eaglefor the United States and aharpy eaglefor Mexico.