The banderas monumentales (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

for "monumental flags") are a collection of tall

flagpole A flagpole, flagmast, flagstaff, or staff is a pole designed to support a flag. If it is taller than can be easily reached to raise the flag, a cord is used, looping around a pulley at the top of the pole with the ends tied at the bottom. The fla ...

s containing large

flags of Mexico A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...

located throughout

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. They are part of a program started in 1999 under

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Ernesto Zedillo Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León (; born 27 December 1951) is a Mexican economist and politician. He was 61st president of Mexico from 1 December 1994 to 30 November 2000, as the last of the uninterrupted 71-year line of Mexican presidents from t ...

that is currently administered by the

Secretariat of National Defense The Mexican Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA); es, Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional 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-equa ...

(''Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional''). The main feature of these monuments (though not the biggest, see below) is a giant

Mexican flag The national flag of Mexico ( es, Bandera de México) 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 thre ...

flying off a 50-meter-high (160-ft) flagpole. The size of the flag was and it was flown on a pole that measured 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 The written history of Mexico spans more than three millennia. First populated more than 13,000 years ago, central and southern Mexico (termed Mesoamerica) saw the rise and fall of complex indigenous civilizations. Mexico would later develop ...

that occurred there.

The 1999 decree

On July 1, 1999, President Zedillo officially started the flag program by issuing a decree that was published in the government register

Official Journal of the Federation The (DOF; translated variously as the ''Official Journal of the Federation'' or else as ''Official Gazette of the Federation''), published daily by the government of Mexico, is the main official government publication in Mexico. It was founde ...

. 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 Arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

and the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...

to instill a sense of patriotism into the Mexican population. Zedillo also used the timeframe of 1995 until 2000 to promote Mexican

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

and

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

. Finally, this decree allowed the governors of each

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

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 consisted of selecting the location for the monumental flags, of which the first were: *Those in the military base ''

Campo Marte Campo Marte is a venue under the administration of the Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA). Named after the ''Campus Martius'' ( Field of Mars), it is used for military and government events, as well as equestrian events. Campo Marte is loc ...

'', in downtown, and in the ''San Jerónimo'' roundabout in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

* Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua * Veracuz,

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

Iguala Iguala (), known officially as Iguala de la Independencia, is a historic city located from the state capital of Chilpancingo, in the Mexican state of Guerrero in southwestern Mexico. Geography The city of Iguala stands on Federal Highway 95 ab ...

Guerrero Guerrero is one of the 32 states that comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo and its largest city is Acapulcocopied from article, GuerreroAs of 2020, Guerrero the pop ...

The first two deployments were in México City, Mexico's capital. The next two were in Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez, along the northern border with the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Veracruz is Mexico's main

seaport A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

. 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 in height by 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 . 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 Monterrey (northeast) with a pole height of and a flag measuring , built to quadruple the size of the other monumental flags. It is located at the top of the ''Cerro del Obispado'' (Bishopric Hill) at an altitude of above sea level and it weighs . It was inaugurated on the ''Día de la Bandera'' (Flag Day), February 24, 2005. Another flag with similar proportions is located in the city of

Dolores Hidalgo Dolores Hidalgo (; in full, Dolores Hidalgo Cuna de la Independencia Nacional, en, Dolores Hidalgo Birthplace of exicanNational Independence) is the name of a city and the surrounding municipality in the north-central part of the Mexican state o ...

, Guanajuato, the Cradle of Mexican Independence. This one was inaugurated on September 15, 2000 and it is at an altitude of above the sea level, on a very small military base.

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. * Monterrey, Nuevo León *

, Cuna de la Independencia Nacional, Guanajuato * Querétaro, Querétaro *

México City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

(three locations): **

Zócalo The Zócalo () is the common name of the main square in central Mexico City. Prior to the colonial period, it was the main ceremonial center in the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan. The plaza used to be known simply as the "Main Square" or "Arms Sq ...

, in the city center. **Campo Militar Marte (1 km northwest of

Los Pinos Los Pinos (English: ''The Pines'') was the official residence and office of the President of Mexico from 1934 to 2018. Located in the Bosque de Chapultepec (Chapultepec Forest) in central Mexico City, it became the presidential seat in 1934, wh ...

) **''San Jerónimo'' *

* Tonalá, Jalisco *

Piedras Negras Piedras Negras may refer to: * Piedras Negras, Coahuila, a city in the state of Coahuila, Mexico ** Piedras Negras Municipality, a municipality in Mexico, with the center in the eponymous city * Piedras Negras (Maya site) Piedras Negras is the ...

, Coahuila *

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

* Chihuahua, Chihuahua * Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua *

Morelia Morelia (; from 1545 to 1828 known as Valladolid) is a city and municipal seat of the municipality of Morelia in the north-central part of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. The city is in the Guayangareo Valley and is the capital and lar ...

, Michoacán *

Tehuacán "By faith and hope" , , image_map = , mapsize = 300 px , map_caption = Location of Tehuacán within the state of Puebla. , image_map1 = Puebla en México.svg , mapsize1 = 300 px , ma ...

, Puebla * San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí *

El Calvario El Calvario is a town and municipality in the Meta Department, Colombia. It was the epicenter of the 2008 Colombia earthquake. Climate El Calvario has a borderline subtropical highland climate (Köppen ''Cfb'')/tropical rainforest climate A tr ...

Toluca Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. With a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census, Toluca is the fifth most populous city in Mexico. The city f ...

* Cuautla and

Cuernavaca Cuernavaca (; nci-IPA, Cuauhnāhuac, kʷawˈnaːwak "near the woods", ) is the capital and largest city of the state of Morelos in Mexico. The city is located around a 90-minute drive south of Mexico City using the Federal Highway 95D. The na ...

, Morelos *

Culiacán Culiacán, officially Culiacán Rosales, is a city in northwestern Mexico, the capital and largest city of both the Culiacán Municipality and the state of Sinaloa. The city was founded on 29 September 1531, by the Spanish conquerors Lázar ...

and

Mazatlán Mazatlán () is a city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding '' municipio'', known as the Mazatlán Municipality. It is located at on the Pacific coast, across from the southernmost tip ...

, Sinaloa * Mérida,

Yucatán Yucatán (, also , , ; yua, Yúukatan ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán,; yua, link=no, Xóot' Noj Lu'umil Yúukatan. is one of the 31 states which comprise the federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 106 separate mun ...

Cancún Cancún ( ), often Cancun in English (without the accent; or ) is a city in southeast Mexico on the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. It is a significant tourist destination in Mexico and the seat ...

Quintana Roo Quintana Roo ( , ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Quintana Roo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Quintana Roo), is one of the 31 states which, with Mexico City, constitute the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 11 mu ...

Naucalpan Naucalpan, officially Naucalpan de Juárez, is one of 125 municipalities located just northwest of Mexico City in the adjoining State of Mexico. The municipal seat is the city of Naucalpan de Juárez, which extends into the neighboring municipa ...

Estado de México The State of Mexico ( es, Estado de México; ), officially just Mexico ( es, México), is one of the 32 federal entities of the United Mexican States. Commonly known as Edomex (from ) to distinguish it from the name of the whole country, it is ...

Nuevo Laredo Nuevo Laredo () is a city in the Municipality of Nuevo Laredo in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. The city lies on the banks of the Rio Grande, across from Laredo, United States. The 2010 census population of the city was 373,725. Nuevo Lar ...

Tamaulipas Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entiti ...

Ciudad Victoria Ciudad Victoria () is the seat of the Municipality of Victoria, and the capital of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. It is located in the northeast of Mexico at the foot of the Sierra Madre Oriental. It borders the municipality of Güémez to t ...

Tampico Tampico is a city and port in the southeastern part of the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. It is located on the north bank of the Pánuco River, about inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and directly north of the state of Veracruz. Tampico is the fifth ...

Celaya Celaya (; ) 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 ...

, Guanajuato *

Irapuato Irapuato is a Mexican city (and municipality) located at the foot of the Arandas Hill (in Spanish: ''Cerro de Arandas''), in the central region of the state of Guanajuato. It lies between the Silao River and the Guanajuato River, a tributary of ...

, Guanajuato * Ensenada,

* Acapulco,

San Miguel de Allende San Miguel de Allende () is the principal city in the municipality of San Miguel de Allende, located in the far eastern part of Guanajuato, Mexico. A part of the Bajío region, the city lies from Mexico City, 86 km (53 mi) from Queré ...

, Guanajuato *

Cozumel Cozumel (; yua, Kùutsmil) is an island and municipality in the Caribbean Sea off the eastern coast of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, opposite Playa del Carmen. It is separated from the mainland by the Cozumel Channel and is close to the Yucat� ...

The Tijuana, Ciudad Juárez and Nuevo Laredo flags overlook the

border and can be clearly seen from the U. S. side.

Gallery

File:Iguala de la Independencia.jpg,

File:Banderas monumentales, Quintana Roo, Mexico.jpg,

Playa del Carmen Playa del Carmen, known colloquially as 'Playa', is a resort city located along the Caribbean Sea in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. It is part of the municipality of Solidaridad. As of 2020, the city's population was just over 300,000 peopl ...

. File:P080510 12.31.jpg, Corralejo Hidalgo,

Pénjamo Pénjamo ( tsz, Penlamu or Penxamo 'place of ahuehuetes or sabinos'; Cradle of Hidalgo) is the seat of Pénjamo municipality, one of 46 municipalities of Guanajuato, Mexico. It was cofounded in 1549 by Guamares, Purépechas, and Otomis prior t ...

, Guanajuato. File:Cancun-Hotel-Zone-Flag-3.jpg, Cancún, Quintana Roo File:Bandera del zocalo.JPG,

, México City File:Huge Flag in Cozumel Harbour (5497364592).jpg,

File:00 6494 Grande.JPG, Acapulco, Guerrero. File:Bandera Monumental Ensenada.jpg, Ensenada,

File:Ensenada-mexico-night-flag-sm.jpg, Ensenada, Baja California File:Mexican-flag-ensenada.jpg, Ensenada, Baja California. File:TijuanaStreet-small.JPG,

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

, Baja California. File:AstaBanderaMonumental.JPG,

, Coahuila File:Bandera monumental en el cerro El Calvario, Toluca, México.jpg, El Calvario,

File:Bandera monumentale Cozumel.jpg,

San Miguel de Cozumel San Miguel de Cozumel () is the largest city in Cozumel Municipality in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. With a 2010 census population of 77,236, it is also Quintana Roo's fourth-largest community, after Cancún, Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Chetuma ...

References

''Mexico - Giant flags''
* {{in lang, es}
Secretariat of Interior of Mexico (article)

External links

Google maps photo of a bandera monumental at Nuevo Laredo, Mexico

Photo of a ''bandera monumental'' at Tijuana, B.C., Mexico seen across the border from the United States side in San Ysidro, California
Mexican culture Flags of Mexico 1999 in Mexico Flagpoles