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An eagle on a prickly pear cactus devouring a snake.
Also known as: Escudo Nacional de México, Mexican coat of arms, Eagle on a cactus, Aztec eagle emblem
Mexico's coat of arms depicts the founding sign of Tenochtitlan: an eagle on a cactus growing from rock in a lake. The snake is a post-conquest addition — the earliest Mexica sources show the eagle holding the atl-tlachinolli glyph for war, not a serpent.
Denotes Mexico as its coat of arms: a golden eagle perched on a prickly pear cactus growing from a rock in a lake, holding a rattlesnake.
Contexts: Public information
Depicts the Mexica founding sign for Tenochtitlan, the omen said to mark where the city was to be built.
Contexts: Public information
Shows a serpent that the earliest indigenous depictions do not: pre-conquest sources show the eagle with the atl-tlachinolli glyph signifying war, and the snake appears in later colonial-era versions.
Contexts: Public information
Has its exact composition fixed by Mexican statute, which specifies the eagle's posture, the oak and laurel wreath and the proportions.
Contexts: Public information
A golden eagle drawn in profile standing on the flat oval pads of a prickly pear cactus rising from a stone in water, its curved beak and one talon gripping a coiled rattlesnake, framed below by crossed oak and laurel branches.