Banderas monumentales
Encyclopedia
The banderas monumentales (Spanish
for "monumental flag
s") are a set of monument
s located throughout Mexico
. They are part of a program started in 1999 under President
Ernesto Zedillo
that is currently administered by the Secretariat of National Defense
(Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional). The main feature of these monuments (though not the biggest, see below) is a giant Mexican flag
flying off a 50 meter-high flagpole. The size of the flag was 14.3 by 25 meters and it was flown on a pole that measured 50 meters high. In the time after the decree was issued, many more banderas monumentales have been installed throughout the country in various sizes. Many of the locations were chosen due to significant events in Mexican history
that occurred there.
and the national anthem to instill a sense of patriotism
into the Mexican population. Zedillo also used the timeframe of 1995 until 2000 to promote Mexican culture
and history
. Finally, this decree allowed the governors of each state
to display more conspicuously the national symbols (Símbolos Patrios) throughout their state.
The first two deployments were in Mexico City, Mexico's capital. The next two were in Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez, along the northern border with the United States
. Veracruz is Mexico's main seaport in the Gulf of Mexico
. Finally, Iguala was where the flag of the Three Guarantees (Bandera de las Tres Garantías) recognized as Mexico's first flag, was created.
The second point in the program accounted for the creation of a standard size for the flags and the poles they would be raised on. Zedillo's official decree stated that the flag sizes will be 14.3 meters in height by 25 meters in width. The flag size is close to the 4:7 ratio as stated in Article 3 of the Law on the National Coat of Arms, Flag and Anthem (Ley sobre el Escudo, la Bandera y el Himno Nacionales). The flagpoles were to have a height of 50 meters.
There have been smaller flags called banderas semi-monumentales installed for schools, smaller communities and other locations where logistics complicate the flying a giant flag. The flags are greatly smaller than its those outlined in the 1999 decree, but have the advantages that are cheaper and easier to take down than the monumental flags. Monumental flags are costly to construct and require a group of nearly twenty people to raise and lower them.
The Tijuana, Ciudad Juárez and Nuevo Laredo flags overlook the United States
border and can be clearly seen from the U. S. side.
References
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
for "monumental flag
Flag
A flag is a piece of fabric with a distinctive design that is usually rectangular and used as a symbol, as a signaling device, or decoration. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium.The first flags were used to assist...
s") are a set of monument
Monument
A monument is a type of structure either explicitly created to commemorate a person or important event or which has become important to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, or simply as an example of historic architecture...
s located throughout Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. They are part of a program started in 1999 under President
President of Mexico
The President of the United Mexican States is the head of state and government of Mexico. Under the Constitution, the president is also the Supreme Commander of the Mexican armed forces...
Ernesto Zedillo
Ernesto Zedillo
Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León is a Mexican economist and politician. He served as President of Mexico from December 1, 1994 to November 30, 2000, as the last of the uninterrupted seventy year line of Mexican presidents from the Institutional Revolutionary Party...
that is currently administered by the Secretariat of National Defense
Secretariat of National Defense (Mexico)
Mexico's Secretariat of National Defense is the government department responsible for managing Mexico's Army and Air Forces. Its head is the Secretary of National Defense who, like the co-equal Secretary of the Navy, reports directly to the President...
(Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional). The main feature of these monuments (though not the biggest, see below) is a giant Mexican flag
Flag of Mexico
The flag of Mexico is a vertical tricolor of green, white, and red with the national coat of arms charged in the center of the white stripe. While the meaning of the colors has changed over time, these three colors were adopted by Mexico following independence from Spain during the country's War...
flying off a 50 meter-high flagpole. The size of the flag was 14.3 by 25 meters and it was flown on a pole that measured 50 meters high. In the time after the decree was issued, many more banderas monumentales have been installed throughout the country in various sizes. Many of the locations were chosen due to significant events in Mexican history
History of Mexico
The history of Mexico, a country located in the southern portion of North America, covers a period of more than two millennia. First populated more than 13,000 years ago, the country produced complex indigenous civilizations before being conquered by the Spanish in the 16th Century.Since the...
that occurred there.
The 1999 decree
On 1 July 1999, President Zedillo officially started the flag program by issuing a decree that was published in the government register Official Journal of the Federation. While the formation of the flag project was one aspect of the decree, the overall aims of the law were to promote the flag, the Coat of ArmsCoat of arms of Mexico
The current coat of arms of Mexico has been an important symbol of Mexican politics and culture for centuries. The coat of arms depicts a Mexican Golden Eagle perched upon a prickly pear cactus devouring a snake. To the people of Tenochtitlan this would have strong religious connotations, but to...
and the national anthem to instill a sense of patriotism
Patriotism
Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
into the Mexican population. Zedillo also used the timeframe of 1995 until 2000 to promote Mexican culture
Culture of Mexico
Mexico has changed rapidly during the 20th century. In many ways, contemporary life in its cities has become similar to that in neighboring United States and Europe. Most Mexican villagers follow the older way of life more than the city people do. More than 45% of the people of Mexico live in...
and history
History of Mexico
The history of Mexico, a country located in the southern portion of North America, covers a period of more than two millennia. First populated more than 13,000 years ago, the country produced complex indigenous civilizations before being conquered by the Spanish in the 16th Century.Since the...
. Finally, this decree allowed the governors of each state
States of Mexico
The United Mexican States is a federal republic formed by 32 federal entities .According to the Constitution of 1917, the states of the federation are free and sovereign. Each state has their own congress and constitution, while the Federal District has only limited autonomy with a local Congress...
to display more conspicuously the national symbols (Símbolos Patrios) throughout their state.
The flag program
The deployment of banderas monumentales was outlined by Zedillo in a two point program. The first point consisited on selecting the location for the monumental flags, of which the first were:- Those in the military base Campo Marte, in downtown, and in the San Jerónimo roundabout in Mexico CityMexico CityMexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
- TijuanaTijuanaTijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
, Baja CaliforniaBaja CaliforniaBaja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North... - Ciudad JuárezCiudad JuárezCiudad Juárez , officially known today as Heroica Ciudad Juárez, but abbreviated Juárez and formerly known as El Paso del Norte, is a city and seat of the municipality of Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Juárez's estimated population is 1.5 million people. The city lies on the Rio Grande...
, Chihuahua - VeracuzVeracruz, VeracruzVeracruz, officially known as Heroica Veracruz, is a major port city and municipality on the Gulf of Mexico in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The city is located in the central part of the state. It is located along Federal Highway 140 from the state capital Xalapa, and is the state's most...
, VeracruzVeracruzVeracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is... - IgualaIgualaThe historic city of Iguala de la Independencia is located from state capital Chilpancingo in the Mexican state of Guerrero. It stands on Federal Highway 95. Iguala is the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name, located in the north-central part of the state. The city had a 2005...
, GuerreroGuerreroGuerrero officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Guerrero is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo....
The first two deployments were in Mexico City, Mexico's capital. The next two were in Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez, along the northern border with the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Veracruz is Mexico's main seaport in the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
. Finally, Iguala was where the flag of the Three Guarantees (Bandera de las Tres Garantías) recognized as Mexico's first flag, was created.
The second point in the program accounted for the creation of a standard size for the flags and the poles they would be raised on. Zedillo's official decree stated that the flag sizes will be 14.3 meters in height by 25 meters in width. The flag size is close to the 4:7 ratio as stated in Article 3 of the Law on the National Coat of Arms, Flag and Anthem (Ley sobre el Escudo, la Bandera y el Himno Nacionales). The flagpoles were to have a height of 50 meters.
There have been smaller flags called banderas semi-monumentales installed for schools, smaller communities and other locations where logistics complicate the flying a giant flag. The flags are greatly smaller than its those outlined in the 1999 decree, but have the advantages that are cheaper and easier to take down than the monumental flags. Monumental flags are costly to construct and require a group of nearly twenty people to raise and lower them.
Biggest flags
The biggest monumental flag in Mexico is the one located in Piedras Negras ( 120 meters )Current locations
Since the construction of the first monumental flags other cities throughout the country have also deployed their own. They are mostly located in state capitals, historical towns and cities with important economic activity.- MonterreyMonterreyMonterrey , is the capital city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León in the country of Mexico. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation. Monterrey serves as a commercial center in the north of the country and is the...
, Nuevo LeónNuevo LeónNuevo León It is located in Northeastern Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Tamaulipas to the north and east, San Luis Potosí to the south, and Coahuila to the west. To the north, Nuevo León has a 15 kilometer stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border adjacent to the U.S...
25°40′34.33"N 100°20′45.98"W - Dolores HidalgoDolores HidalgoDolores Hidalgo Dolores Hidalgo Dolores Hidalgo (in full, Dolores Hidalgo Cuna de la Independencia Nacional is the name of a city and the surrounding municipality in the north-central part of the Mexican state of Guanajuato....
, Cuna de la Independencia NacionalDolores HidalgoDolores Hidalgo Dolores Hidalgo Dolores Hidalgo (in full, Dolores Hidalgo Cuna de la Independencia Nacional is the name of a city and the surrounding municipality in the north-central part of the Mexican state of Guanajuato....
, GuanajuatoGuanajuatoGuanajuato officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 46 municipalities and its capital city is Guanajuato....
21°9′33.01"N 100°54′35.56"W - QuerétaroSantiago de QuerétaroSantiago de Querétaro is the capital and largest city of the state of Querétaro, located in central Mexico. It is located 213 km northwest of Mexico City, 96 km southeast of San Miguel de Allende and 200 km south of San Luis Potosí...
, QuerétaroQuerétaroQuerétaro officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Querétaro de Arteaga is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities and its capital city is Santiago de Querétaro.... - Mexico CityMexico CityMexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, Federal District (three locations):- ZócaloZócaloThe Zócalo is the main plaza or square in the heart of the historic center of Mexico City. The plaza used to be known simply as the "Main Square" or "Arms Square," and today its formal name is Plaza de la Constitución...
, in the city center. 19°25′57.66"N 99°7′59.96"W - Campo Militar Marte (1 km northwest of Los PinosLos PinosLos Pinos is the official residence and office of the President of Mexico. Located in the Bosque de Chapultepec in central Mexico City, it became the presidential seat in 1934, when Gen...
) 19°25′27.14"N 99°11′47.84"W - San Jerónimo roundabout
- Zócalo
- IgualaIgualaThe historic city of Iguala de la Independencia is located from state capital Chilpancingo in the Mexican state of Guerrero. It stands on Federal Highway 95. Iguala is the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name, located in the north-central part of the state. The city had a 2005...
, GuerreroGuerreroGuerrero officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Guerrero is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo....
18°19′44.67"N 99°31′58.15"W - TonaláTonalá, JaliscoTonalá is a city and its surrounding municipality within the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area in the state of Jalisco in Mexico.The city had a 2005 census population of 374,258 and the municipality had a population of 408,729 and an area of 119.58 km² . The municipality lies adjacent to the east...
, JaliscoJaliscoJalisco officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in Western Mexico and divided in 125 municipalities and its capital city is Guadalajara.It is one of the more important states... - TijuanaTijuanaTijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
, Baja CaliforniaBaja CaliforniaBaja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
32°31′14.87"N 117°2′11.20"W - ChihuahuaChihuahua, ChihuahuaThe city of Chihuahua is the state capital of the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It has a population of about 825,327. The predominant activity is industry, including domestic heavy, light industries, consumer goods production, and to a smaller extent maquiladoras.-History:It has been said that the...
, Chihuahua - Ciudad JuárezCiudad JuárezCiudad Juárez , officially known today as Heroica Ciudad Juárez, but abbreviated Juárez and formerly known as El Paso del Norte, is a city and seat of the municipality of Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Juárez's estimated population is 1.5 million people. The city lies on the Rio Grande...
, Chihuahua 31°45′18.44"N 106°27′12.89"W - VeracruzVeracruz, VeracruzVeracruz, officially known as Heroica Veracruz, is a major port city and municipality on the Gulf of Mexico in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The city is located in the central part of the state. It is located along Federal Highway 140 from the state capital Xalapa, and is the state's most...
, VeracruzVeracruzVeracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is... - MoreliaMoreliaMorelia is a city and municipality in the north central part of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. The city is in the Guayangareo Valley and is the capital of the state. The main pre-Hispanic cultures here were the P'urhépecha and the Matlatzinca, but no major cities were founded in the...
, MichoacánMichoacánMichoacán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 113 municipalities and its capital city is Morelia... - CuliacánCuliacánCuliacán is a city in northwestern Mexico, the largest city in the state of Sinaloa as well as its capital and capital of the municipality of Culiacán. With 675,773 inhabitants in the city , and 858,638 in the municipality, it is the largest city in the state of Sinaloa...
and MazatlánMazatlánMazatlán is a city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa; the surrounding municipio for which the city serves as the municipal seat is Mazatlán Municipality. It is located at on the Pacific coast, across from the southernmost tip of the Baja California peninsula.Mazatlán is a Nahuatl word meaning...
, SinaloaSinaloaSinaloa officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 18 municipalities and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales.... - MéridaMérida, YucatánMérida is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Yucatán and the Yucatán Peninsula. It is located in the northwest part of the state, about from the Gulf of Mexico coast...
, YucatánYucatánYucatán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Yucatán is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 106 municipalities and its capital city is Mérida.... - CancúnCancúnCancún is a city of international tourism development certified by the UNWTO . Located on the northeast coast of Quintana Roo in southern Mexico, more than 1,700 km from Mexico City, the Project began operations in 1974 as Integrally Planned Center, a pioneer of FONATUR Cancún is a city of...
, Quintana RooQuintana RooQuintana Roo officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Quintana Roo is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 10 municipalities and its capital city is Chetumal.... - NaucalpanNaucalpanNaucalpan, officially Naucalpan de Juárez, is a city and municipality located just northwest of Mexico City in adjoining Mexico State. The name Naucalpan comes from Nahuatl and means “place of the four neighborhoods or four houses. “de Juárez was added to the official name in 1874 in honor of...
, Estado de México - Nuevo LaredoNuevo LaredoNuevo Laredo is a city located in the Municipality of Nuevo Laredo in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. The city lies on the banks of the Río Grande, across from the United States city of Laredo, Texas. The 2010 census population of the city was 373,725. Nuevo Laredo is part of the Laredo-Nuevo...
, TamaulipasTamaulipasTamaulipas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 43 municipalities and its capital city is Ciudad Victoria. The capital city was named after Guadalupe Victoria, the...
27°29′51.37"N 99°30′16.45"W - Ciudad VictoriaCiudad VictoriaCiudad Victoria , is the capital city of the Mexican state ofTamaulipas. It is located in the western-central region of the state. Ciudad Victoria is also the municipal seat of the surrounding Victoria Municipality, which covers an area of 1,638 km²...
, TamaulipasTamaulipasTamaulipas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 43 municipalities and its capital city is Ciudad Victoria. The capital city was named after Guadalupe Victoria, the... - TampicoTampicoTampico is a city and port in the state of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located in the southeastern part of the state, directly north across the border from Veracruz. Tampico is the third largest city in Tamaulipas, and counts with a population of 309,003. The Metropolitan area of...
, TamaulipasTamaulipasTamaulipas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 43 municipalities and its capital city is Ciudad Victoria. The capital city was named after Guadalupe Victoria, the... - CelayaCelayaCelaya is a city and its surrounding municipality in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, located in the southeast quadrant of the state. It is the third most populous city in the state, with a 2005 census population of 310,413. The municipality for which the city serves as municipal seat, had a...
, GuanajuatoGuanajuatoGuanajuato officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 46 municipalities and its capital city is Guanajuato.... - Irapuato, GuanajuatoGuanajuatoGuanajuato officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 46 municipalities and its capital city is Guanajuato....
- EnsenadaEnsenada, Baja CaliforniaEnsenada is a coastal city in Mexico and the third-largest city in Baja California. It is located south of San Diego on the Baja California Peninsula. The city is locally referred to as La Cenicienta del Pacífico, or, The Cinderella of the Pacific...
, Baja CaliforniaBaja CaliforniaBaja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
31°51′33.51"N 116°37′27.34"W - AcapulcoAcapulcoAcapulco is a city, municipality and major sea port in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific coast of Mexico, southwest from Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semi-circular bay and has been a port since the early colonial period of Mexico’s history...
, GuerreroGuerreroGuerrero officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Guerrero is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo....
16°51′31.89"N 99°53′12.35"W - San Miguel de AllendeSan Miguel de AllendeSan Miguel de Allende is a city and municipality located in the far eastern part of the state of Guanajuato in central Mexico. It is 274 km from Mexico City and 97 km from the state capital of Guanajuato...
, GuanajuatoGuanajuatoGuanajuato officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 46 municipalities and its capital city is Guanajuato....
The Tijuana, Ciudad Juárez and Nuevo Laredo flags overlook the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
border and can be clearly seen from the U. S. side.
References
- Diario Oficial de la Federación; 1 July 1999
- Flags of the WorldFlags of the WorldFlags of the World is an Internet-based vexillological association and resource. Its principal project is the Internet's largest website devoted to vexillology, containing comprehensive information about all kinds of flags, and an associated mailing list...
- Mexico - Giant flags Secretariat of Interior of Mexico (article)
