MEXICO FLAGS AND BUNTING

After Mexico achieved independence, it adopted on 2 November 1821 a flag based on the French Tricolore. The green-white red flag was charged with the national emblem, a modern interpretation of an ancient Aztec symbol. According to Aztec legend, an eagle grasping a serpent in its claws and standing on a flowering nopal cactus growing from a rock in the middle of the Tenochtitlan Lake appeared on the site where the Aztecs decided to build their capital city in 1325. The emblem has changed its form several times, the last time in 1968. Originally the colours symbolized independence (green), purity of religion (white) and striving for unity between the native races and the Spaniards (red). Today they stand for hope (green), purity (white) and religion (red).