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Monday, 5 January
Tuesday, 6 January
Wednesday, 7 January
Constitution Day, Mexico
Día de la Bandera ("Flag Day") is a national holiday in Mexico. Flag Day is celebrated every year on 24th February since it was established by the then President of Mexico, General Lázaro Cárdenas, in 1937 during a ceremony before the monument to General Vicente Guerrero, who was the first to pledge allegiance to the Mexican flag on 12th March 1821.
On this day each year special TV and radio programs are broadcast to explain the history and meaning of the Flag, an explanation of which is included in Mexican schools' literature:
Green is for hope and victory.
White is for the purity of our ideals.
Red is for the blood our national heroes shed.
In addition to the bands of color, the flag also has an emblem based on a legend which tells how the Mexicans traveled from Aztlán (now the state of Nayarit) in search of the sign that Huitzilopochtli had told them they would find in the place where they should establish their empire. This sign was an eagle on top of a Nopal cactus devouring a serpent. They found this on a small island in the middle of a lake. They settled there and founded the city of Tenochtitlan, which is now Mexico City.
Since 1821 there have actually been eight flags used in Mexico, one of them twice. The 1st National Flag emerged in 1821 followed by the 2nd National Flag, the 3rd National Flag, then two "unofficial" flags, the 2nd National Flag (re-adopted), two un-named flags and now the 4th National Flag, officially adopted on 16th September 16 1968 with a Coat of Arms designed by the Architect Francisco Eppens Helguera.
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