Seal of New Mexico
The Great Seal of New Mexico is the official seal of the state of New Mexico.
It was first used in 1882 and taken over by the government of New Mexico in 1913.
Description
The seal shows a Mexican golden eagle holding a snake in its beak and a cactus in its talons. This eagle is protected by an American bald eagle with outstretched wings.
The American bald eagle is also holding arrows in its talons. Among the eagles is on the outer ring, the year 1912, on a scroll the Latin motto:
This is a quote from the book De Rerum Natura of the Roman author Lucretius in which it comes like a bolt of strength gains while he chases across the sky.
On the outer ring of the seal is also Great Seal of the State of New Mexico.
The Eagles
New Mexico was settled by Spanish colonists and was formerly a part of Mexico. For this reason, the customs and symbols of New Mexico are the same as in Mexico. The Mexican golden eagle holding a snake in its beak and a cactus in its talons. He refers to an ancient Aztec myth. According to legend, the Aztecs migrated in the 14th century, from a place in the north called Aztlán to Lake Texcoco in central Mexico, led by their god Huitzilopochtli. When they arrived at an island in the lake, they were able to observe an eagle, which, on an Opuntia ( Nopal Spanish ) sitting, a red and a yellow ribbon in the mouth had. According to the prophecy, this event was designed to show them the place where they were to settle. The presence of this eagle on the seal means that New Mexico relies on his Spanish, Mexican and Native American traditions. The Mexican golden eagle is small and is guarded by the much larger bald eagle with its wings spread, arrows in its talons and the attentive eyes. This shows the change of affiliation of New Mexico in 1846, and the consequent American protection, under the New Mexico stands ever since.
History
The First Seal of New Mexico was designed shortly after the establishment of the territorial government in 1851. The original of the seal has been missing for a long time. It is believed that it was used as part of the Soldiers ' Monument. Footprints of the original seal show the American eagle in a claw holding an olive branch and three arrows in the other. On the outer ring of the lettering was to read Great Seal of the Territory of New Mexico.
In the early 1860s, a new seal was introduced. This seal had a similar design to the current seal. It shows the American bald eagle protect its outstretched wings a smaller Mexican golden eagle. Both animals are the respective heraldic animals of the countries. The outer ring of the words territory of New Mexico and the date 1850 were in Roman numerals.
1882 W. G. adorned the territorial secretary Rich the seal with the words Crescit Eundo (Latin: "It grows as proceeding "). This version of the seal was so popular that has been adopted by the Territorial Administration in 1887 as the official seal.
In the eighteen months that it took until the present seal of the State of New Mexico has adopted the management of New Mexico allowed as an interim solution, the use of the territorial seal, but with the lettering Great Seal of the State of New Mexico.
As New Mexico State in 1912 was continued to manage a commission for the design of the state seal. 1913 recommended that this Commission the adoption of the territorial seal which only the year was added in 1912. This is today the official seal of New Mexico.