February 24 – Mexico Flag Day
The flag, coat of arms, and national anthem are the three core symbols that represent and unite the Mexican nation. These powerful emblems embody Mexico’s rich history, culture, and national pride, serving as a source of identity and cohesion for its people.
Mexico established Flag Day on February 24, 1934. However, President Lázaro Cárdenas del Río officially recognized it as a national commemoration in 1940 through a presidential decree.
In 1821, Agustín de Iturbide declared Mexico’s independence and created the flag to symbolize guarantees for Mexicans.
In the declaration of the Iguala plan, Agustin de Iturbide carried a flag named “three guarantees” (green, white and red), but in diagonal stripes. The colors of the flag guaranteed some rights: white represented the Catholic religion; green represented the independence of Mexico before Spain and red the equality and the union of the Mexicans with the Spaniards and the castes.
At the end of Agustín de Iturbide’s empire in 1823, the Constituent Congress officially established the National Flag. They preserved the green, white, and red colors but made some changes: they removed the imperial crown from the eagle and added the republican symbols of laurel and oak branches.
In the mid-19th century, Benito Juárez assumed the presidency of Mexico and changed the meaning of the flag’s colors following the separation of church and state: Green symbolized hope, white represented unity, and red honored the blood of national heroes.
The Mexican Flag Day date is a normal working day in Mexico.
