Flag of Mexico - Monumental Flags

Monumental Flags

In 1999, President of Mexico Ernesto Zedillo started a program erecting giant flags across the country. Directed by the Secretariat of National Defense, the banderas monumentales (monumental flags) were placed in various cities and spots, most of which are of great significance to the nation. In a decree issued on July 1, 1999 by Zedillo, the flags were to be placed in Mexico City, Tijuana, Ciudad Juárez, and Veracruz. The decree also stipulated for the flags to measure 14.3 meters by 25 meters, which are raised on flag poles that are 50 meters high. After these initial monumental flags were created, cities such as Ensenada, Nuevo Laredo and Cancún were reported to have their own monumental flags. Smaller flags, called banderas semi-monumentales, have been erected in smaller towns and at various educational institutes.

As of December 22, 2010, the biggest Mexican flag in the world is now located in Piedras Negras, Coahuila. Located at the Gran Plaza (Great Plaza) right across from International Bridge I connecting Piedras Negras with Eagle Pass, Texas. The pole is 120 meters in height and weighs 160 tons making it the tallest one in Latin America and one of the tallest in the world. The flag measures 60 by 34 meters and weights 420 kilograms.

Mexico's first largest monumental flag was the one located at the Mirador del Obispado in Monterrey (northeast) with a pole of 120 tons and 100.6 meters in height. The flag measures 50 by 28.6 meters and weighs 230 kilograms, four times the size of most other monumental flags at the time. It is located at the top of the Cerro del Obispado (Bishopric Hill) at an altitude of 775 meters above the sea level (city's altitude 538 meters). There is another monumental flag of a similar size than Monterrey's in the city of Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato, cradle of Mexican Independence.

Example Locations

1. Piedras Negras, Coahuila
2. Monterrey, Nuevo León
3. Querétaro, Querétaro
4. Mexico City, Federal District:

   Zócalo, in the city center

   Campo Militar Marte, military base behind Los Pinos

   San Jerónimo roundabout, in Periférico Sur

5. Chihuahua, Chihuahua
6. Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua
7. Iguala, Guerrero
8. Tonalá, Jalisco
9. Mérida, Yucatán
10. Cancún, Quintana Roo
11. Mexicali, Baja California
12. Tampico, Tamaulipas
13. Tijuana, Baja California
14. Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas
15. Campeche, Campeche
16. Veracruz, Veracruz
17. Acapulco, Guerrero
18. Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato
19. Pachuca, Hidalgo (Mexico)
20. Durango, Durango
21. Ensenada, Baja California