Mexico flag is the national flag of Mexico, a large country in North America. The flag has three vertical stripes of equal width. The stripe nearest the hoist (side of the flag closest to the flagpole) is green. It stands for hope. A white stripe in the middle symbolizes unity. The outer stripe is red. It represents the blood of Mexico’s national heroes.
The Mexican coat of arms appears in the middle of the white stripe. It portrays an Aztec legend. The Aztec were a Native American people who ruled a great empire in Mexico during the 1400’s and early 1500’s. The legend says the Aztec built their capital, Tenochtitlan, at the place where they saw an eagle grasping a snake settle on a flowering cactus. The cactus grew on an island in the middle of a lake.
Tenochtitlan was destroyed when the Spaniards conquered the Aztec in 1521. The Spaniards rebuilt the city and named it Mexico City. Today, Mexico City is Mexico’s national capital.
Mexico adopted its flag when it won independence from Spain in 1821. Since that time, the government has revised the picture of the eagle in the coat of arms several times. It adopted the present version in 1968.
