The myth of the foundation of Tenochtitlan is known outside Mexico because of the national emblem’s central image: an enormous eagle perched on a blossoming cactus which bends under the bird’s weight. With its beak and one of its legs, the bird holds a snake that tries to break free. The snake coils and uncoils, challenging the eagle with its eyes. This image is inscribed in a circle made of letters that form the words “ESTADOS UNIDOS MEXICANOS” (“United States of Mexico”). It is the symbol of a nation’s power, multiplied in thousands of flags waving every September throughout the territory; turned into the letterhead of all official documents; set as the center of the decoration in all diplomatic events. Thus, the eagle, the snake, and the cactus become a flat image, a diagram, a logo. [...]
Symbol
in ENCYCLOPEDIA