Friday, February 24, 2017

Friday 24th February 2017....A special day in Mexico!!!




Every February 24 Mexico celebrates National Flag Day.
The Mexican national flag is a symbol of freedomjustice and citizenship. Its shield and colors represent the origins, principles, courage and struggle of the Mexican nation.
Over the years, different flags have represented Mexico, but the flag that was used in the Declaration of Independence, with some modifications, is the flag that currently represents Mexico.
On February 24, 1935, Benito Ramirez an employee of the Bank of Mexico, organized a guard of honor in tribute to the Flag of Mexico and this practice continued until 1940, when President Lázaro Cárdenas declared that February 24 was officially Flag Day.
From then on, every year Mexicans  honor the flag with ceremonies that commemorate the heroes who gave their life for Mexico’s freedom and independence.

The flag of Mexico, was born in 1821 when Agustín de Iturbide was inspired to represent in it the  guarantees that all Mexicans would have when the independence of Mexico was declared.

During the declaration of the Plan of IgualaIturbide wore a flag with three colors, white, green and red, arranged in diagonal stripes and a gold star on each color.
The rights or guarantees that Iturbide declared were reflected in the flag:  white represented the Catholic religion, which was the only religion accepted, green stood for the Independence of Mexico from Spain and red equality and unity of Mexicans with Spaniards .
When the  Trigarante Army reached  Mexico, Agustín de Iturbide carried the flag and proclaimed the independence of Mexico.

During Iturbide‘s rule as Emperor of Mexico, the flag underwent some modifications, the stripes became vertical and had a crowned eagle in the white colored center.

After the fall of Agustín de Iturbide in 1823, the Constituent Congress declared the tricolor flag as the official flag but with modifications.
The eagle was stripped of the imperial crown and it is represented with open wings; at the foot of it, placed branches of laurel and oak were placed.
The meaning of the colors also changed, white represents purity, hope is the green color and red represents the blood lost by our heroes of the Independence struggle.

Over the years and during the presidency of Porfirio Diaz, other elements of the shield were modified.
It was during the presidency of Gustavo Diaz Ordaz with the declaration of the Law on the Characteristics and Uses of the Coat of Arms, the Flag and the National Anthem” that the current flag was made official, through article 3 of this law.

The Flag of Mexico is divided into three segments, green, white and red respectively and in the center is the national emblem, which consists of an eagle on a cactus in the middle of a lagoon, devouring a snake.
The shield has its origins in the ancient Aztec legend about the founding of Tenochtitlan.

3rd article states:

Article 3.- The National Flag consists of a rectangle divided into three vertical stripes of identical dimensions, with the colors in the following order from the flagpole to the right: green, white and red.
On the center of the white strip,  is the national shield, with a diameter of three quarters of the width of this strip. The ratio between width and length of the flag is four to seven. A bow of the same colors may be placed at the top of the pole.
An official copy of the National Flag, authenticated by the three branches of government, shall remain in the General Archives of the Nation and another one in the National History Museum.

Today I took 5 other people hiking to my favorite canyon hike......on the way there we passed this brick making area



It really is another world..this family working in bare feet in the heat and this girl was no more than 9 years old...hard to imagine this scene is only a 15 minute walk from town!!!!
We hiked up to the cross where the views especially on a day like today were awesome!!!!
Everyone was brave enough to get out on the suspension bridge!!!


Then we had lunch in the canyon and they all agreed it is a beautiful quiet and serene place!!!!

On the way back to town we stopped an spoke to the owner of a small property..he was a young Mexican man who spoke great English and is starting a business building small homes made out of pallets and straw!!!
He insulates the pallets with clay and straw...
and this is the finished product!!!  a very bright and innovative guy!!!!

With unusual hot weather for the last 6 weeks the Jacaranda trees, my favorites, are now starting to bloom!!!
Have a great safe and happy weekend!!!

Yashi Kochi!!!

No comments:

Thursday 5 th January 2023…it was a great run!!!

 This was my first ever blog post back in November of 2006!!! With just a couple of days off I have written a blog every day since and I hav...