Seal of New Mexico

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Seal of New Mexico
Seal of New Mexico.svg
Details
Introduced 1913
Motto (motto) Crescit Eundo (It grows as it goes.)

The Great Seal of New Mexico is the official seal of the state of New Mexico .

It was first used in 1882 and adopted by the New Mexico government in 1913 .

description

The seal shows a Mexican golden eagle with a snake in its beak and a cactus in its talons . This eagle is protected by an American bald eagle who spreads its wings and holds arrows in its talons.

Under the eagles on the outer ring is the year 1912 and on a scroll the Latin motto:

" Crescit Eundo "
( It grows as you go. )

This is a quote from the work De rerum natura by the Roman writer Lucretius , which is about how lightning gains power as it races across the sky.

The Great Seal of the State of New Mexico also appears on the outer ring of the seal .

Flag of New Mexico

The Eagles

New Mexico was settled by Spanish colonists and was formerly part of Mexico . Because of this, New Mexico's customs and symbols are the same as those of Mexico. The Mexican golden eagle holds a snake in its beak and a cactus in its talons . He is referring to an ancient Aztec myth. According to legend, the Aztecs migrated from a place in the north called Aztlán to Lake Texcoco in central Mexico in the 14th century , led by their god Huitzilopochtli . When they arrived at an island in the lake, they could see an eagle , which, sitting on an opuntia (Spanish nopal ), had a red and a yellow ribbon in its mouth. According to prophecy, this event was designed to show them the place to settle. The presence of this eagle on the seal means that New Mexico is referring to its Spanish, Mexican, and Native American traditions. The Mexican golden eagle is small and is protected by the much larger bald eagle with outspread wings, arrows in its claws and watchful eyes. This shows the change of affiliation with New Mexico in 1846 and the associated American protection under which New Mexico has been since then.

history

New Mexico's first seal was drafted shortly after the territorial government was established in 1851 . The original of the seal has been lost for a long time. It is believed that it was used as part of the Soldiers' Monument . Imprints of the original seal show the American eagle holding an olive branch in one claw and three arrows in the other. The word Great Seal of the Territory of New Mexico was written on the outer ring .

A new seal was introduced in the early 1860s . This seal already had a design similar to today's seal. It shows the American bald eagle whose outstretched wings protect a smaller Mexican golden eagle . Both animals are the respective heraldic animals of the countries. The words Territory of New Mexico and the date 1850 were written in Roman numerals on the outer ring .

In 1882 , the Territorial Secretary WG Rich adorned the seal with the words Crescit Eundo ( Latin : "It grows as you progress"). This version of the seal was so popular that it was adopted as the official seal by the Territorial Administration in 1887 .

In the year and a half that it took until the current seal of the State of New Mexico was adopted, the New Mexico administration allowed the use of the territorial seal as an interim solution, but with the words Great Seal of the State of New Mexico .

When New Mexico became a state in 1912 , the administration set up a state seal design commission . In 1913 this commission recommended the adoption of the territorial seal to which only the year 1912 was added. This is the official seal of New Mexico to this day.

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