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Copyright 2001. The Lazy 'C' - All rights reserved.
history
The flag consists of the Zia Sun Symbol on a field of yellow.
The yellow field and red symbol colours are the colours of Spain. First brought to New Mexico by Spanish explorers in 1540. On New Mexico's flag we see a red sun with rays stretching out from it. There are four groups of rays with four rays in each group. This is an ancient sun symbol of a Native American people called the Zia. The Zia believed that the giver of all good gave them gifts in groups of four.
These gifts are:
The four directions - north, east, south and west.
The four seasons - spring, summer, fall and winter.
The day - sunrise, noon, evening and night.
Life itself - childhood, youth, middle years and old age.
All of these are bound by a circle of life and love, without a beginning or end.
The yellow field and red symbol colours are the colours of Spain. First brought to New Mexico by Spanish explorers in 1540. On New Mexico's flag we see a red sun with rays stretching out from it. There are four groups of rays with four rays in each group. This is an ancient sun symbol of a Native American people called the Zia. The Zia believed that the giver of all good gave them gifts in groups of four.
These gifts are:
The four directions - north, east, south and west.
The four seasons - spring, summer, fall and winter.
The day - sunrise, noon, evening and night.
Life itself - childhood, youth, middle years and old age.
All of these are bound by a circle of life and love, without a beginning or end.
Nickname: Land of Enchantment State.
Capital: Santa Fe.
Constitution: The 47th State.
Statehood: January 6th 1912.
Motto: Crecit Eundo - (It Grows As It Goes)
History:
Indians have probably lived in what is now New Mexico for about 20,000 years. Spanish explorers of the 1500's were the first white people to enter the region. Spain ruled the region until 1821, when New Mexico became a province of Mexico. That same year, the Santa Fe trail opened, linking New Mexico with the state of Missouri. The United States took possession of New Mexico in 1848.
The world's first atomic bomb was exploded at Trinity Site, near Alamogordo, on July 16, 1945. The bomb was produced at Los Alamos, a town and laboratory built secretly in the mountains. New Mexico ranks as a leading centre of space and nuclear research.
Bird:
Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus).
Economy:
Agriculture: Cattle, dairy products, hay, nursery stock, chilies.
Industry: Electric equipment, petroleum and coal products, food processing, printing and publishing, stone, glass, and clay products, tourism.
Flower:
Yucca flower.
Origin of state's name:
Named by the Spanish for lands north of the Rio Grande River.
Seal:
New Mexico's first seal was designed shortly after the organization of the Territorial Government, in 1851. The original seal has long since disappered, possibly as part of the artifacts placed into the cornerstone of the Soldiers Monument in the Santa Fe Plaza. Imprints of the original seal show it consisted of the American Eagle, clutching an olive branch in one talon, and three arrows in the other. Along the outside rim was the inscription "Great Seal of the Territory NM."
In the early 1860's an unknown official adopted a new seal, using a design similar to today's Great Seal. It featured the American Bald Eagle, its outstretched wings shiedling a smaller Mexican Eagle, symbolizing the change of sovereignty from Mexico to the United States in 1846. The smaller Mexican Brown, or Harpy, Eagle grasped a snake in its beak and cactus in its talons, portraying an ancient Aztec myth. The outside rim of the seal contained the words "Territory of New Mexico," with the date of 1850 along the bottom in Roman numerals (MDCCCL).
It is not clear when the Latin phrase "Crescit Eundo" was added to the seal, but in 1882, Territorial Secretary W.G. Ritch embellished the earlier design with the phrase, which translates as "it grows as it goes". This version of the seal was adopted as New Mexico's "official seal and coat of arms" by the Territorial Legislature in 1887.
When New Mexico became a state in 1912, the Legislature named a Commission for the purpose of designing a State Seal. In the meantime, the Legislature authorized interim use of the Territorial Seal with the words "Great Seal of the State of New Mexico" substituted. In June 1913, the Commission, which consisted of Governor William C. McDonald, Attorney General Frank W. Clancy, Chief Justice Clarence J. Roberts, and Secretary of State Antonio Lucero, filed its report adopting the general design of the Territorial Seal, substituting only the date 1912 for the Roman numerals. That seal is still in use today as the official seal of New Mexico.
Tree:
Pinon Pine (Pinus edulis).
Indians have probably lived in what is now New Mexico for about 20,000 years. Spanish explorers of the 1500's were the first white people to enter the region. Spain ruled the region until 1821, when New Mexico became a province of Mexico. That same year, the Santa Fe trail opened, linking New Mexico with the state of Missouri. The United States took possession of New Mexico in 1848.
The world's first atomic bomb was exploded at Trinity Site, near Alamogordo, on July 16, 1945. The bomb was produced at Los Alamos, a town and laboratory built secretly in the mountains. New Mexico ranks as a leading centre of space and nuclear research.
Bird:
Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus).
Economy:
Agriculture: Cattle, dairy products, hay, nursery stock, chilies.
Industry: Electric equipment, petroleum and coal products, food processing, printing and publishing, stone, glass, and clay products, tourism.
Flower:
Yucca flower.
Origin of state's name:
Named by the Spanish for lands north of the Rio Grande River.
Seal:
New Mexico's first seal was designed shortly after the organization of the Territorial Government, in 1851. The original seal has long since disappered, possibly as part of the artifacts placed into the cornerstone of the Soldiers Monument in the Santa Fe Plaza. Imprints of the original seal show it consisted of the American Eagle, clutching an olive branch in one talon, and three arrows in the other. Along the outside rim was the inscription "Great Seal of the Territory NM."
In the early 1860's an unknown official adopted a new seal, using a design similar to today's Great Seal. It featured the American Bald Eagle, its outstretched wings shiedling a smaller Mexican Eagle, symbolizing the change of sovereignty from Mexico to the United States in 1846. The smaller Mexican Brown, or Harpy, Eagle grasped a snake in its beak and cactus in its talons, portraying an ancient Aztec myth. The outside rim of the seal contained the words "Territory of New Mexico," with the date of 1850 along the bottom in Roman numerals (MDCCCL).
When New Mexico became a state in 1912, the Legislature named a Commission for the purpose of designing a State Seal. In the meantime, the Legislature authorized interim use of the Territorial Seal with the words "Great Seal of the State of New Mexico" substituted. In June 1913, the Commission, which consisted of Governor William C. McDonald, Attorney General Frank W. Clancy, Chief Justice Clarence J. Roberts, and Secretary of State Antonio Lucero, filed its report adopting the general design of the Territorial Seal, substituting only the date 1912 for the Roman numerals. That seal is still in use today as the official seal of New Mexico.
Tree:
Pinon Pine (Pinus edulis).