NEW MEXICO-NUEVO MEXICO

The flag of New Mexico consists of a red sun symbol of the Zia on a field of yellow. The colors honor Isabella of Castile and the Spanish conquistadors and settlers who explored in her name. (Note that the red and yellow Cross of Burgundy Flag used by conquistadors, was the military flag of Spain in those years.) In 1920, a contest to design the new state flag was won by Dr. Harry Mera of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Mera was an archaeologist who was familiar with the Zia sun symbol found at Zia Pueblo on a 19th century pot. The symbol has sacred meaning to the Zia.