The Mexican Flag (Acrylic on Canvas)

Voiceover

Presenter(s)

Christian Suarez

Abstract or Description

Artistic interpretation of the Mexican Flag, done with acrylic paint. The emblem represents an eagle attacking a snake, perched on a cactus. 

One of the Aztec Gods “Huitzilopochtli”, commanded them to build their new city wherever they saw this sign, which they found on an island in the middle of the Lake Texcoco; building their capital city of Tenochtitlan where modern day México City stands. The Spanish as well saw a higher meaning in this symbol. They saw it as a triumph of God over Satan, where the Eagle represents an animal sent from the sky, the heavens, to conquer an animal of the underworld, the snake. The snake which also tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden, and began the fall of man. 

This important symbol represents the soul of the Mexican people, who were created by the unification of the Indigenous Aztecs, surrounding Indigenous groups, and the Foreign Spanish. This is now commonly referred to as mestizaje, the mixing of the two races, and the mixing of Pagan and Catholic traditions.  

This interpretation depicts the eagle as the Aztec God “Quetzalcoatl”, the God of time, eating himself. His earthly form is depicted as a feathered serpent, a mix of both a bird and a snake. He is absorbing his own tail, to represent the Aztec perception of time as circular, as opposed to the Western perception of time as linear. 

• Christian Suárez

Mentor

None