Flag of Aguascalientes

The flag of Aguascalientes is a white field with the state coat of arms in the centre. The coat of arms is Spanish in shape, divided into three quarters and topped with a knight’s helmet.

How it came about

Aguascalientes is a state in central Mexico. The flag was approved on 9 June 1946, and the coat of arms was designed by Bernabé Ballesteros and Alejandro Topete del Valle.

The coat of arms has three quarters. The first, blue, carries the Virgin of the Assumption in silver, held by two angels, with a fountain and a mouth crowned by a broken golden chain. The second, silver, shows a dam crowned by a bunch of purple grapes. The third, gold, carries a bee with silver wings over a blue cogwheel.

How it has changed

It has never changed. It was approved in 1946 and there are no documented later modifications.

What it means

• White

  the colour of the field, with no stripes or divisions.

• Coat of arms

  in the centre, a third of the height of the field.

• First quarter, blue

  the Virgin of the Assumption, in silver, with two angels, a fountain and a mouth with a broken golden chain. It is the oldest part of the coat of arms.

• Second quarter, silver

  a dam with a bunch of purple grapes. It stands for the water and the vineyard.

• Third quarter, gold

  a bee with silver wings over a blue cogwheel. It stands for industry.

• Helm

  knight’s helmet with acanthus mantling.

Fun facts

1. A coat of arms that tells the economy of the state

   The second quarter carries a dam and grapes; the third, a bee and a cogwheel. Between them they sum up water, agriculture and industry: the three sectors of Aguascalientes. It is a narrative coat of arms, not just a decorative one.

2. The broken chain and the fountain

   The first quarter is the oldest: the Virgin of the Assumption with the fountain and the mouth crowned by a broken chain. The broken chain is a symbol of concord and union, and it is the detail most repeated in New Mexican heraldry.

3. Two authors for one coat of arms

   The coat of arms was designed by Bernabé Ballesteros and Alejandro Topete del Valle. The Mexican states of 1946 were a moment of intense heraldic design, with commissions open to artists in several of them.

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