The coat of arms of the state of Mexico is one of the two symbolic representations of the Mexican state along with the official state anthem. Its official status was confirmed after the enactment of the country's Shield and Anthem Law. The state of Mexico is located in the center of the country and its capital is the city of Toluca.
It was in this state that the ancient civilization of Teotihuacán developed. The official state coat of arms refers to various motifs that represent the values of the region, rooted in its historical principles. The law that made the use of this symbol official was promulgated in 1941.
Little more than half a century later, in 1995, it was incorporated into a white flag; in turn, this was promulgated as the official flag of the state of Mexico. It features a motto and three images that symbolize the values of the region.
History
The coat of arms of the state of Mexico has its origins in the colonial era of the country. When the kingdom of Spain seized control of much of South America, it established the viceroyalty of New Spain to delegate government tasks. This viceroyalty included the entire region that today makes up the Aztec country.
Although the official colors of the region were those of the Spanish State, a characteristic image was already used to identify this region.
In fact, after the Spanish created the intendancy of Mexico, the image of an eagle dismembering a snake was adopted. This image is the one that today occupies the official coat of arms of the country.
Independence
After Mexico declared itself an independent nation and separated from the kingdom of Spain, each federal state had to adopt an official shield with which it could be identified.
The first official shield that the state of Mexico had was an eagle with a snake perched on a cactus on top of some rocks, surrounded by laurels and oaks. The image was surrounded by a circular figure, with the inscription "State of Mexico" in its lower part.
The shield was promulgated shortly after the formation of the state, and it was through decree 30 created by the Congress of a newly independent Mexico. It entered into force at the beginning of May of the year 1827.
It is presumed that a short time later the first modification to the state shield was made. However, there is no exact date that can be defined as the correct one; it is simply known that the shield changed because the new image is registered by the state authorities.
The second state shield featured the same eagle, but this time with open wings. Each branch of the cactus in which it is perched has the name of a district of the state.
In this shield the eagle only has one leg placed on top of the cactus and it is on the branch that has the word "Toluca" written on it, the name of the state capital.
As was customary in most shields of the time, the second shield had a ribbon with a phrase that represented the state written on it.
Additional shield
In addition to the first two previous designs, it is known that there was an additional shield whose use was not as popular as the one that came into force in 1833.
The shield changed in the year 1890, but it was extremely difficult to replicate in legal documents. This caused it to be criticized and its use was limited.
The shield was so rare that few records are had of its existence. The use of the 1833 shield remained active until the adoption of a new official shield in 1941.
This 1941 shield is very similar to the current one and, in fact, it is its original version; Only minor modifications were made to the image after it went into effect.
Decree of 1941 and changes in 1977
The reason why the shield changed again was because of a contest held by the governor of the state of Mexico in 1940.
In this contest, all participants were invited to develop a new motif to become the new state shield. A local professor produced a design that was deemed the winner, and it was sent to Congress.
The shield that won the contest consisted mainly of three squares with representative motifs of the state. The design, although it was basic and needed some modifications, ended up being approved by the Legislative Power.
The Congress of Mexico evaluated the change of shield to the one proposed by the professor, and the law announcing the change was made official in 1941.
The shield had a series of modifications that were made to it in 1977. Although the shield remains quite similar to how it was after its creation, the changes were small but with a fairly high significant value.
Meaning
The shield has a total of 18 bees represented on top of the three main images. These bees represent all the judicial districts that the Mexican state has. In the upper central part is the coat of arms of the United Mexican States, which was not present in its original version.
The first upper box, located on the left side of the shield, represents a traditional inhabitant of Toluca, the main volcano in the region and the famous Pyramid of the Sun, which is located in the ancient city of Teotihuacán.
Right on the right side of this first image, freedom is represented, exemplified in the shield with symbolism of the Battle of Monte de las Cruces.
At the bottom of these two drawings the work and culture of Mexico are represented. All the tools represented in this barracks demonstrate the work of the inhabitants of the state.
Around the barracks are the most representative words of the Mexican culture: work, freedom and culture. Apart from these words, and according to state law, the name of the region can be placed under the shield: state of Mexico.
References
- Coat of arms of the State of Mexico, General Secretariat of the Government of the State of Mexico, (nd). Taken from edomex.gob.mx
- State of Mexico, Latin American Studies, (nd). Taken from latinamericanstudies.org
- National Symbols of the State of Mexico, Web of National Symbols of Mexico, (nd). Taken from simbolospatrios.mx
- State of Mexico, Wikipedia in English, 2018. Taken from wikipedia.org
- Shield of the State of Mexico, Wikipedia in Spanish, 2018. Taken from Wikipedia.org