Those flags that are somehow inspired by the tricolor of French flag tend to have similarities. An example of this is the striking resemblance of the Italian flag to the flag of Mexico. Both have the colors green, white and red, from hoist to fly, and these bands have a vertical orientation. The most obvious difference of the Mexico flag from the national flag of Italy is the coat of arms located in the middle of the white band. Also, if you observe closely, the flag of Mexico has a darker shade of green and red compared to that of the Italian flag. Furthermore, compared to the Italian flag, the flag of Mexico looks more rectangular in shape because of its 4:7 aspect ratio.
Now, if your theory is that the Mexican flag is based on the flag of Italy, you are wrong. This is because the tricolor of Mexico has already been in use even before the Italians adopted theirs. The overall color and design of the Mexican flag was legitimately adopted in 1968, but it has already been used since 1821 from the creation of the first national flag.
If we are going to talk about symbolism, the colors of the flag of Mexico have a simple interpretation. These colors are the ones used by the national liberation army in Mexico. The more complicated symbolism lies in the emblem in the middle of the flag.
The coat of arms of Mexico is an eagle devouring a snake while perched on a prickly pear cactus. This is actually a pictogram used by the Aztecs to represent Mexico City. According to a legend, the Aztec gods told the people to found their city on the spot where they find a golden eagle devouring a snake while perched on a nopal, a prickly pear cactus. This is the origin of Mexico’s coat of arms. For the Europeans, though, this emblem just denotes the victory of good versus evil.
Gina first became interested with Aztec history when she saw the movie “Apocalytpo.” She also collects flags of different Latin American countries, but she still lacks a Mexico flag. This is why she’s currently looking for an inexpensive Mexico flag to buy.
