By: Rogelio Navarrete
The Day of the Mexican Flag or Day of the Mexican Flag, is celebrated on February 24 of each year. It is a day dedicated to one of the greatest patriotic and identity symbols of our country. It corresponds to a labor holiday and its celebration is usually accompanied by official government activities in progress.
In the history of Mexico, a total of 11 flags have been chosen as representatives of our country. This has been due to the different political stages that our nation has gone through. The first banner of the country was in charge of Miguel Hidalgo, hero of independence, who used the flag of the Insurgent Army in 1810.
Agustín de Iturbide in the year 1821, inspired by the future guarantees that all Mexicans would have, after the Declaration of Independence, designed the layout and colors of the flag that we currently know
In 1823, the Mexican Constituent Congress added modifications to the national shield, choosing the eagle over the cactus in honor of the Sun god of the Aztec people, the snake as a symbol of the goddess Coatlicue and the cactus as a symbol of the human heart. In 1934, the first legislation on national symbols was approved. It was in 1940 that President Lázaro Cárdenas declared February 24 as the official day of the National Flag of Mexico. On September 16, 1968, the flag was legally adopted as one of the three official symbols of the country and, since 1984, its use has been regulated by the Mexican Ministry of the Interior.
From its inception, each color of the flag represented an attribute of the nation: white, for example, represented religion; the green the independence of Mexico before Spain and the red the union and struggle of the Mexicans. Between the years 1857 and 1872, the meanings of the colors changed and other characteristics were added, thus, white currently means unity, green hope and red the blood of our national heroes. Every year Mexicans sing, recite and honor the flag, honoring the heroes who obtained the longed for freedom and fought for their dreams of homeland.
