Flag of Mexico
North America
Quick Facts
- Capital
- Mexico City
- Flag adopted
- 1968
- Population
- 130,575,786
- Area
- 1,964,375 km²
- Languages
- Spanish
- Currency
- Mexican peso ($) — MXN
- Demonym
- Mexican
- Government
- federal presidential republic
- Subregion
- North America
- Driving side
- Right
- Timezones
- UTC-08:00, UTC-07:00 +1 more
- Independence
- 1810
Religions
- Roman Catholic 77.7%
- None 10.6%
- Evangelical 7.5%
- Jehovah's Witness 1.2%
About This Flag
The flag of Mexico consists of three equal vertical bands of green on the hoist side, white in the center, and red on the fly side, with the national coat of arms centered on the white stripe. The coat of arms depicts a golden eagle perched on a prickly pear cactus growing from a rock in a lake, devouring a rattlesnake — an image derived from the Aztec legend of the founding of Tenochtitlan (present-day Mexico City).
Green represents hope and victory, white stands for the purity of Mexican ideals, and red symbolizes the blood shed by national heroes. The flag's current version was adopted on September 16, 1968, with a modified coat of arms design, though the green-white-red tricolor has been Mexico's flag since independence in 1821.
What the colors & design mean
Green represents hope, victory, and independence. White stands for the purity of national ideals and religious faith. Red symbolizes the blood of national heroes and union. The eagle-and-serpent coat of arms represents the Aztec founding legend of Mexico City.
Pattern: Vertical Stripes
Bordering countries (3)
Fun Facts
- The coat of arms depicts the Aztec legend in which the god Huitzilopochtli told the wandering Mexica people to settle where they found an eagle eating a snake on a cactus — that place became Tenochtitlan, now Mexico City.
- Mexico celebrates Flag Day (Dia de la Bandera) on February 24, a national holiday since 1937 when citizens gather to salute the flag and recite an oath of allegiance.
- Mexico's flag is often confused with Italy's green-white-red tricolor, but the Mexican flag has a darker green, a slightly different red, the coat of arms, and different proportions (4:7 vs Italy's 2:3).
- The Mexican flag has gone through several versions since 1821, but the core green-white-red tricolor has remained constant — only the coat of arms has been redesigned.
Similar looking flags
These flags share similar colors and patterns:
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