National flag raising ceremony in town square, Cd. Mante...

Mexican Independence Day is September 16, and in Mexico, the month of September is patriotic month, as cities and tows all across the country decorate their main streets with red, white and green, which are the national colors of Mexico. During patriotic month, every morning at 8:00 A.M., the national flag is raised in the town square, and there is a ceremony that accompanies the raising of the colors, hosted by the municipal police, and government officials of the municipality. (Note: In Mexico, a municipality is roughly similar to a county in the U.S.) On Saturday, September 30, 2006, I had the opportunity to attend a flag raising ceremony, at the town square, in Cd. Mante, Tamaulipas.

Photo: This statue of Benio Juárez is inscribed with the inscription that loosely translates as: "Among the individuals as among the nations, the respect to the alien right is the peace." Well said...

I wasn't planning to attend the raising of the national colors, as I wasn't even aware that a ceremony was about to take place, but I was taking a Saturday morning walk in Cd. Mante's Zona Central, on this humid Saturday morning, and I just happened to be at the town square, taking photos, when the ceremony started to get underway. Being the curious sort that I am, and a paparazzi wannabe, I couldn't resist attending the event, and ultimately publish an account of the ceremony on this web site.

Photo: Here's the municipal building, across from the town square, where the clock reads 07:56 A.M. I just wandered by the flag raising ceremony due to dumb luck.

Actually, I was standing near the bandstand, taking photos of pigeons and anything else of interest, when I noticed a crowd of people began to gather. From the municipal building, just across Av. Juárez, which is the main street in town, a group of smartly uniformed officers appeared, and marched in formation across the street, and faced the bandstand, in the town square. I noticed the officer in the lead seemed to have a folded flag in his hand, and the group of officers appeared to be an honor guard. I glanced at my watch, and noticed that the time was slightly before 8; during my days in the U.S. Navy, colors was always celebrated at 8:00 in the morning, so I sensed as what was about to come.

Photo: Police officers, and the honor guard, at attention. The officers dressed in dark pants and polo shirts are municipal police officers, while the more formally-attired officers in gray are members of the honor guard.

In case you're not familiar with the way Mexican towns are laid out, practically every town has a town square, or plaza, which is a park, flanked by the municipal building and usually a cathedral, and the park always has a bandstand, a flag pole, and statues of national heroes. Municipal squares are always beautifully maintained, and are the showpiece of the town, and the central place where many municipal and civic events are held. Cd. Mante is no exception, as the town features a beautiful town square, which is a favorite place for the locals to gather, and it's a shady refuge from the warm, semi-tropical sun.

Photo: Citizens watch the ceremony. Note the main street in town, Av. Juárez, is decorated in patriotic colors.

Photo: The national flag is about to be raised, as municipal officials salute it with the Mexican civil salute.

More police officers arrived, and stood at attention, in formation, facing the flag pole. A group of official looking gentlemen came, and gathered at the base of the flag... Then a whistle was blown, and a voice shouted ¡Attención! and everybody, including the officials and the police officers, came to attention. Next, the police officer carrying the flag, with the help of an official, who appeared to be the mayor, attached the flag to the rope and began to raise it. At this point, everybody broke into a salute, as they faced the flag. When the flag was raised, the National Anthem of Mexico was played over a loudspeaker, and all officials, police officers, and most civilians watching the ceremony stood at attention. When the national anthem finished, the officials and police officers stood at ease, and there was much cheering, clapping and whistling from the civilians in attendance.

Photo: Flag is raised, as the National Anthem is played. All officials, police officers and civilians stood at attention while the flag was raised, and the National Anthem was played.

Photo: The police honor guard stands at attention. Since they're dressed in pseudo-military uniforms, these officers gave the flag a standard, military salute.

I had never seen civilians salute a flag in the manner that a flag is saluted in Mexico. The officers who were dressed in more formal attire, e.g. combination caps and ties, saluted the flag with a standard, military salute. The other officers, who were dressed in more casual attire, and the civilian officials, who were dressed very casually, stood at attention, raised their right arms, and placed their right hands on their chests, in front of their hearts, with their hands flat, and the palms of their hands facing the ground. I didn't know to make of this, but I gave the national flag an American civil salute, by standing at attention, taking off my hat, and putting it over my heart, with my right hand, in the manner that I was taught in grade school, when we'd do a flag salute every morning. Later, I learned that the police officers and civilians were performing a Mexican civil salute to the flat. During the ceremony, I discreetly took a few photos...

Photo: Municipal police officers stand at attention as a city official gives a patriotic speech.

Photo: The color guard carries the flag of the State of Tamulipas, to be flown to the left of the National flag, as per the accepted flag protocol.

The civilian official who I presumed to be the mayor then gave a short speech, followed by the singing of a patriotic song that I wasn't familiar with, another short speech, and with that, the ceremony concluded. First, the civilian officials filed into a formation, and marched back towards the municipal building, followed by the police officers dressed pseudo-military uniforms, and lastly by the more informally-dressed police officers.

Back at the hotel, I asked Rodolfo about the flag raising ceremony. He told me all about patriotic month, and how it's the custom in the country to decorate the main street in patriotic colors, and that many citizens will fly the national flag in front of their house, and fly miniature flags from the antennas of their cars.

Photo: After the state flag is raised, the color guard marches away toward the municipal building. The gent at the right of the photo seems to be amazed that I'm taking a photo.

I found the ceremony interesting, as this is the first time that I'd had the opportunity to witness a patriotic ceremony in a foreign country. Today was another lesson I learned, in the fascinating subject of Mexican culture, learned in the town square of Cd. Mante.

Web page design has been created by eRench Productions, Inc., custom photography for any occasion...