Coat of arms of Mexico

Uncommon card · No. 94821

The coat of arms of Mexico (Spanish: Escudo Nacional de México, lit. "national shield of Mexico") is a national symbol of Mexico and depicts a Mexican (golden) eagle perched on a prickly pear cactus devouring a rattlesnake. The design is rooted in the legend that the Aztec people would know where to build their city once they saw an eagle eating a snake on top of a lake. The image has been an important symbol of Mexican politics and culture for centuries. To the people of Tenochtitlan, this symbol had strong religious connotations, and to the Europeans, it came to symbolize the triumph of good over evil (with the snake sometimes representative of the serpent in the Garden of Eden). The Mexican law on the National Arms, Flag, and Anthem regulates the name, the design, and the use of the arms. There they are officially called "coat of arms" (Spanish: escudo, literally "shield"), even if there is no heraldic shield and therefore, according to the rules of heraldry, it is not a traditional...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Omar Alejandro Covarrubias Neri based on the arms by Francisco Eppens Helguera (1968) and Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán., Public domain