Flag flying days in Mexico
In Article 18 of the Law on the National Arms, Flag, and Anthem (Ley Sobre El Escudo, la Bandera y el Himno Nacionales) there is a listing of dates that the Mexican flag is flown by all branches of government. Civilians are also encouraged to display the national flag on these days. Many of the dates listed in the law denote significant events and people that shaped of Mexican identity and the course of its History. Some of the holidays and commemorations listed require the flag to be flown at half-staff. The national flag can be flown any day of the year by civilians or at festive occasions in persurrence to Article 15 of the Law on the National Arms, Flag, and Anthem.
Full staff
The Mexican flag will be flown at full staff on the following days:[1]
| Date | Occasion |
|---|---|
| 21 January | Birth of Ignacio Allende (1779). |
| 5 February | Adoption of the Constitutions of 1857 and 1917. |
| 19 February | Día del Ejército Mexicano (Day of the Mexican Army). |
| 24 February | Día de la Bandera (Flag Day). |
| 1 March | Proclamation of the Plan of Ayutla. |
| 18 March | Anniversary of the Oil Expropriation (1938). |
| 21 March | Birth of Benito Juárez (1806). |
| 26 March | Adoption of the Plan of Guadalupe during the Mexican Revolution. |
| 2 April | Capture of Puebla (1867). |
| 21 April | Heroic defense of Veracruz to prevent occupation by United States forces (1914). |
| 1 May | Día del Trabajo (May Day). |
| 5 May | Anniversary of the Victory over the French Army in Puebla, in 1862. (Cinco de Mayo) |
| 8 May | Birth of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, the initiator of the War Mexican Independence (1753). |
| 15 May | Capture of Querétaro by the forces of the Republic which led to the fall of the Second Mexican Empire (1867). |
| 1 June | Día de la Marina Nacional (Mexican Navy and National Maritime Day). |
| 21 June | Victory of the Republican Armies over the Second Mexican Empire (1867). |
| 1 September | Opening of the first ordinary session of the Mexican Congress. |
| 14 September | Incorporation of Chiapas as a Federal State. |
| 15 September | Commemoration of the Grito de Dolores. |
| 16 September | Beginning of the Mexican War of Independence (1810). |
| 27 September | Formal conclusion of the Mexican War of Independence (1821). |
| 30 September | Birth of José María Morelos (1765). |
| 12 October | Día de la Raza (Columbus Day). |
| 23 October | Día Nacional de la Aviación. (National Aviation Day). |
| 24 October | Día de las Naciones Unidas. (United Nations Day). |
| 30 October | Birth of Francisco I. Madero (1873). |
| 6 November | Adoption of the Act of National Independence by the Congress of Chilpancingo (1813). |
| 20 November | Beginning of the Mexican Revolution (1910). |
| 29 December | Birth of Venustiano Carranza, (1859). |
| December | On the day of the Closing of Session of the Mexican Congress. |
Half staff
On these following days, the national flag is flown at half staff, mostly commemorating the deaths of important heroes. At any time, the President of Mexico can issue a decree to have the flag flown at half-staff to honor the death of a person who was a major figure of the Mexican government, Mexican society, the head of state of another nation or a tragic event on a major scale. One example is that on the 19th anniversary of the Mexico City earthquake in 1985, President Vicente Fox lowered the flags to half staff to honor the estimated 6,000 people who were killed.
| Date[1] | Motive |
|---|---|
| 14 February | Death of Vicente Guerrero (1831). |
| 22 February | Death of Francisco I. Madero (1913). |
| 28 February | Death of Cuauhtémoc, last Aztec Emperor (1525). |
| 10 April | Death of Emiliano Zapata (1919). |
| 2 May | Death of the pilots of the 201st Mexican Expeditionary Air Force during World War II (1945). |
| 21 May | Death of Venustiano Carranza (1920). |
| 5 June | Commemoration of the victims of the 2009 Hermosillo daycare center fire (2009). |
| 17 July | Death of General Alvaro Obregón (1924). |
| 18 July | Death of Benito Juárez (1872). |
| 30 July | Death of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (1811). |
| 12 September | Commemoration of the sacrifice of Saint Patrick's Battalion during the Mexican–American War (1847). |
| 13 September | Fall of the Niños Héroes during the Battle of Chapultepec (1847). |
| 19 September | Anniversary of the 1985 Mexico City earthquake |
| 2 October | Commemoration of the Tlatelolco massacre (1968). |
| 7 October | Commemoration of the sacrifice of Senator Belisario Domínguez (1913). |
| 22 December | Death of José María Morelos (1815). |
Former flag days
There also have been occasions where official flag day notices that been announced in the Official Journal of the Federation, but later revoked. One such case was that 1 November was declared a holiday to hoist the national flag in 1991, but was later removed from the list four years later from another order published in Official Journal of the Federation.
Notes
- ^ Change of Article 18 to add 21 April as a flag day; January 3, 2005. Retrieved 10 January 2006.
- ^ The precise date varies every year.
- ^ The Arizona Daily Star (2005). Around the world; September 20, 2004. Retrieved 9 January 2006.
- ^ Addition of 2 May as a day to fly the Mexican flag at half-staff. Retrieved 11 January 2006.
- ^ Holiday created on 9 January 1991 in an order published in the Diario Official de la Federación; revoked in an order published 9 May 1995 in Diario Official de la Federación.
References
- 1 2 "Ley Sobre El Escudo, la Bandera y el Himno Nacionales" (PDF). Diario Oficial de la Federación (in Spanish). 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2007. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
External links
- English Text of the Law of the National Arms, Flag and Anthem - From Flags of the World.
- Ley sobre el escudo, la bandera y el himno nacionales - Law of the National Arms, Flag and Anthem. In Spanish.